Bread-Bakers v108.n026.3

Hello Jeanette,

Your friend's receipe sounds very much like what we call Böhmische 
Knödel in Southern Germany and Austria (èeský knedlík in tchek). They 
are made the same way as you describe, but are usually rolled into a 
sausage shape, which is lightly tied with string before being boiled 
or sometimes steamed.  You usually slice them with a piece of cotton 
yarn to get even slices. Wikipedia has a link to them but the page is 
in German:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B6hmische_Kn%C3%B6del

This recipe is usually eaten with savoury food, goulash or something 
which has lots of gravy - it's perfect for that.

Eating it with vanilla sauce is not something I've come across with 
that receipe, but why not, it's delicious.  There is a Bavarian 
recipe for "Dampfnudeln", whereby you cook the raised bread dough in 
a wide pan containing about 1/2 inch of milk (or milk and cream) and 
about 2 tbsp butter.  The dough is shaped into individual dumplings, 
the size of bread rolls, and you need a pan with a very tight fitting 
lid, which you're not allowed to lift during the cooking 
process.  It's a tricky one as you'll need to keep the heat low to 
avoid burning and you'll have to gauge when it's done (the milk 
should be completely evaporated/absorbed).  When it works the result 
is very delicious: light dumplings with a slightly caramelised crust 
underneath.  Usually these dumplings are served with vanilla sauce, 
either made with cornflour or eggs or both.  I'll have to make them again soon!

Happy baking,
Andreas in Languedoc