Recipe: Germknödel (yeast dumpling)

Winter is coming. That means it's time for a real ski hut classic: the Germknödel. After Kaiserschmarrn, it is certainly THE dish that gourmets at the ski hut will not spurn. And when the sweet smell wafts into your nose, the anticipation of the first turns in the fresh snow increases immeasurably.

Normally I would not put Germknödel on the list of my favorite foods. The original recipe uses Powidl jam for the filling, which is not really to my taste. But the rest of the dish is really not to be despised, so for this homemade version we decided to use a different jam: blueberry jam. This was a real gamechanger and catapulted the germ dumplings to the top of my culinary list. Now let's shorten the wait for winter with this recipe!


Tips for the preparation

This is now our third dessert made with yeast dough and again we use a different dough. Unlike the Wuchteln or the Germkrapfen, this time we have to warm up the batter over steam. Don't let that scare you away. It's easier than it sounds. And as with any yeast dough, you'll need to bring a little more time this time, because as you already know, the dough needs to rest more often.

Ingredients for 6 dumplings:

For the dumplings:

  • 250 g of non-skimmed flour
  • 1/2 packet of dry yeast
  • 25 g butter
  • 1/8 l milk
  • 25 g powdered sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
  • lemon peel
  • salt
  • blueberry jam

For the topping:

  • grated poppy seeds
  • powdered sugar
  • vanilla sauce
  • melted butter


Preparation:

  1. Warm the milk a little (only lukewarm) and stir in the dry yeast to activate. Add a pinch of sugar and some flour, cover and set aside.
  2. Prepare a water bath in a saucepan and put the ingredients for the batter (butter, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, lemon zest, a pinch of salt) into a bowl. Then whisk the ingredients well over the steam. When the ingredients are well blended, gradually add the yolks and continue beating over the steam until the batter looks nice and is about lukewarm. It shouldn't get too hot or you'll have scrambled eggs.
  3. Then add the milk with the dry yeast to the flour and stir briefly with a spoon. Then stir in the batter. Then knead the mixture into a smooth dough. You can also use the hand mixer with dough hooks for this.
  1. Divide the dough into six equal pieces.
  2. Shape the pieces into balls and place them on a floured board.
  3. Cover the balls with a tea towel and let them rise in a warm place for half an hour.
  1. The balls should now have about doubled in volume.
  2. Now it's time for the filling: To do this, flatten a ball, place a teaspoon of jam in the center and press the edges firmly together.
  3. Place the filled balls on a floured board with the end facing down, cover and let rest for another 20 minutes.
  1. While the balls are resting, you can prepare the pots for cooking. There are three ways to cook the dumplings.
  2. Number one: You have a steamer. This is the easiest way - put the dumplings in, cook, done.
  3. Number two: It also works with a steamer insert. This is very convenient because you can just put it in any pot and steam cook the dumplings there. However, the pot should be large so that firstly you have enough space for the dumplings and secondly the pot also has enough space for the steam.
  4. Number three: You can also use two pots with the same diameter and a cotton cloth. To do this, simply fill one of the pots halfway with water and tie the cotton cloth to it with a string. Then brush the cloth with melted butter and put the dumplings on it when the water boils. Place the second pot on top - with the opening facing down, of course.
  5. With all three methods, the dumplings take 20 minutes, then they are done. We used methods two and three.
  1. While the dumplings are cooking, you can prepare the vanilla sauce from the Wuchtel recipe, melt the butter and mix the poppy seeds with the powdered sugar.
  2. After 20 minutes, six delicious dumplings are waiting for you. You can arrange them as you like. We have decided on three variants: Butter and poppy seeds, vanilla sauce and vanilla sauce and poppy seeds. And then it's time to enjoy :-) Meal time!

I would never have thought that Germknödel could taste so good. Be sure to try the recipe!

Kristina

All pictures were taken with the GoPro HERO9.