Polish Potato Plum Dumplings (Knedle ze śliwkami), one of those dishes that might make an appearance for dessert, maybe it’s a side dish, what about breakfast? It’s a nice combination of flavors, plums that are both sweet and tart, the dumpling that’s a little on the salty side. I like that bite of sweet and salty, don’t you?
These dumplings are popular throughout Central and Eastern Europe, and you can finish them in many different ways. I simply browned them after boiling and sprinkled them with sugar. I think next time I’ll bring breadcrumbs into the mix. I think the texture will add a nice contrast.
I’ll be curious to hear how your family eats these dumplings.
Smacznego!
Lois
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Polish Potato Dumplings with Plums (Knedle ze śliwkami)
- Prep Time: 35 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 or 8 dumplings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Polish
Description
A potato dumpling filled with plum and finished in a number of ways!
Ingredients
- 1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 – 1 cup flour
- 4 plums
- 4 teaspoons sugar
Optional garnishes:
- cinnamon
- breadcrumbs and butter
- sour cream
- heavy cream
Instructions
- Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, cool, rice or mash, add butter, egg, and salt, work in just enough flour to make a dough that isn’t sticky
- Heat a large pot of salted water to a slow boil for cooking the dumplings
- Divide dough into 8 pieces, pat each piece into a circle about 3 – 4 inches in diameter
- Slice plums in half and carefully remove pit, fill the hole left by the pit with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
- Wrap plums halves in dough, working the dough until it encompasses the plum and you’ve sealed the edges completely
- Put the dumplings in the simmering water, cook for about 5 minutes, when they float to the top, they’re done (I cooked mine in two batches)
Finish in any number of ways:
- Serve with sour cream and sugar
- Brown in butter and roll in sugar
- Brown breadcrumbs in butter, sprinkle on dumplings, top with heavy cream sweetened with sugar
- Roll dumplings in breadcrumbs, brown in butter sprinkle with sugar
- Add a sprinkle of cinnamon to any one of the above
Notes
Traditionally, the plum halves are reassembled after pitting, or it’s pitted without completely slicing it in two, and the whole plum is put in a dumpling, but I didn’t want dumplings that would be larger than a baseball, so I just did halves.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
kat
use sugar cubes where the pits were- it’s easier and they stay put. my hungarian mother-in-law made these, but used lil italian prune plums, pitted and stuffed with a sugar cube. she also used fresh apricots, and 4-5 pitted cherries. after these cooked, she browned bread crumbs in butter, added equal amount of sugar, and rolled the dumplings in this mix. then poured melted butter over all just before serving.
polishhousewife
I’ve heard of soaking sugar cubes in rum and putting them in the center.
Maria
Traditionally you should use Italian plums that are not so large and are sweeter. You do not have to put sugar inside the plum. Incidentally, those plums (used for dried prunes and prune butter) are called Hungarian plums in Polish.
Christine
Thanks kat for the tips.
I was thinking the plums were smaller than we have in the stores. Our one little grocery store gets the Italian plums in once a year and sometimes I am lucky to shop at the right time. Plum anything is good though. Is the Czech showing in me? LOL.
Sherry Plombon Knollenberg
Oh these sound so yummy!
★★★★★
polishhousewife
Thanks, Sherry!
Pat
We make these with prune plums with a sugar cube inside. We boil for 10 minutes with cover on the kettle. When they are cooked, we cut them in half with thread, then roll in melted butter, cinnamon and sugar!! Delish!
polishhousewife
Sounds great, Pat!
Aaron
Made them yesterday. Absolutely delicious, thanks for the recipe!
polishhousewife
My pleasure, Aaron; I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them. Thanks for letting me know!
Gertrude Pogorevc
Omg I sooo love these. My mother has made these for me as a child. God I love this sooo much. I want to eat them for breakfast lunch and dinner..Thankyou so much this recipe. Much gratitude to you. X
★★★★★
polishhousewife
Gertrude, I’m so happy to connect you with a fond memory!
Caroline Wallet
Very good!!!! Thanks for sharing .My mom always topped
with saltine crackers browned in butter till golden brown .
★★★★★
polishhousewife
The cracker topping sounds yummy!
Jerry turczak
I plan on using frozen plums .how long should I boil them.
polishhousewife
Jerry, would it be possible to thaw the frozen plums before using them in the recipe? I think that would be the best option and then cook as directed. I’m not sure how much longer you would need to cook the dumpling to thaw the plum, it might be too much for the dough. Let us know what you decide and how it works out.
Monica
We make them with prune plums or cherries, but always top them with farmer’s cheese (like a dry cottage cheese), sugar and melted butter. Delicious!