A classic Austrian dessert, Marillenknödel, or apricot dumplings, reflects the tastes of the area. Usually derived from potatoes or quark, this Central European dish comprises ripe apricots wrapped in a soft dough and covered with toasted breadcrumbs. Because of its mix of tart and sweet, Marillenknödel is an excellent dessert for any season, but in the summer when apricots are in season, it is especially popular.
6
servings30
minutes20
minutes200
kcalMarillenknödel is not a dessert you learn from a cookbook—it’s passed down in kitchens that smell faintly of flour and warm butter, where someone older shows you how the dough should feel, not look. You begin with quark, though some will swear by mashed potatoes, mixing it with flour, egg, softened butter, and a pinch of salt until the dough holds together but still yields under your fingers. It’s a dough that resists speed. It asks for calm hands and a bit of humility. The apricots, always ripe and local if you can manage it, get pitted gently—no tearing—and sometimes filled with sugar or a shard of almond. You wrap each one like a small gift, sealing the seam where dough meets dough. Then you lower them into simmering salted water. When they float, they’re done—oddly light, full of promise. Breadcrumbs come last, browned slowly in butter with cinnamon and sugar until they smell like a bakery at dusk. You roll the dumplings in them while they’re still steaming. Some prefer whipped cream, others melted butter, but most of us eat the first one standing at the stove, too impatient to wait. Marillenknödel is fleeting. That’s part of what makes it matter.
250 g (9 oz) quark or farmer's cheese
100 g (3.5 oz) all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting)
1 large egg
30 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
A pinch of salt
6 fresh ripe apricots
6 sugar cubes (or 1 tsp sugar per apricot, optional)
50 g (3.5 tbsp) unsalted butter
100 g (1 cup) breadcrumbs
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
