Germknödel
Germknödel is a classic of Austrian mountain huts and ski slopes: a huge, fluffy steamed yeast dumpling filled with plum jam, drenched in melted butter and buried under poppy seed and icing sugar. One dumpling is a whole meal — in Austria it is often eaten in place of lunch. The poppy seed and sugar topping is its signature. The rule when steaming: do not lift the lid, or the dumplings collapse.
Your own work in that: 45 min.
- Dough 25 min
- Rising 60 min
- Filling 15 min
- Second rise 20 min
- Steaming 20 min
- Serving 5 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMake the dough
Crumble the yeast into the lukewarm milk with a spoonful of sugar and leave 10 minutes. Add the flour, remaining sugar, egg, melted butter and salt and knead 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 120 ml lukewarm milk · 15 g fresh yeast · 30 g sugar · 40 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt
Leave to rise
Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave somewhere warm for 60 minutes, until doubled.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 120 ml lukewarm milk · 15 g fresh yeast · 30 g sugar · 40 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt
The dough should double.Divide
Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (about 140 g each) and flatten each into a 12 cm disc.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 120 ml lukewarm milk · 15 g fresh yeast · 30 g sugar · 40 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt
Fill
Put 30 g of jam in the centre of each disc. Gather the edges up, pinch tightly shut and shape a ball, seam down. Leaky dumplings burst in the steam.
Ingredients: 120 g thick plum jam · 60 g poppy seeds, ground · 40 g icing sugar · 80 g butter for pouring
Seal well — the jam must not escape.Rest again
Set the dumplings on a floured board, cover and leave 20 minutes.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 120 ml lukewarm milk · 15 g fresh yeast · 30 g sugar · 40 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt
Set up the steam
Stretch a cloth over a wide pot (at least 26 cm) of boiling water and tie it with string, or use a steamer. Brush the cloth or basket with a little butter. If the 4 dumplings will not fit with space between them, steam them in two batches.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 120 ml lukewarm milk · 15 g fresh yeast · 30 g sugar · 40 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt
Steam
Space the dumplings out, as they swell a lot. Cover with a bowl or lid and steam 18–20 minutes, without lifting the lid. They are done when they spring back when pressed.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 120 ml lukewarm milk · 15 g fresh yeast · 30 g sugar · 40 g butter, melted · 1 pcs egg · ½ tsp salt
The lid stays on for all 20 minutes.Serve
Melt the butter. Mix the poppy seed with the icing sugar. Lift the hot dumplings onto plates, prick them with a fork, pour over plenty of butter and heap with the poppy seed sugar. Serve at once.
Ingredients: 120 g thick plum jam · 60 g poppy seeds, ground · 40 g icing sugar · 80 g butter for pouring
Before you start
With vanilla sauce
Many Austrian places pour warm vanilla sauce over the dumpling instead of butter, or serve both. With about 100 ml of sauce instead of butter a portion comes to about 700 kcal; with butter and sauce, about 850 kcal.
Poppy seed
The poppy seed must be ground — whole seeds do not stick to the butter and crunch. Buy it ground or grind it in a coffee grinder.
Storage
Germknödel is eaten fresh. Raw filled dumplings can be frozen straight after shaping (before the second rise) and steamed from frozen for about 30 minutes, checking that they spring back.
