Germknödel and Custard

I am always on the lookout for new recipes, and have a ever-growing list of dishes to try at some undetermined point in the future. As soon as I saw this recipe for sweet, steamed jam filled dumplings, I had to make them- normally I  shop around for a recipe, to find the something perfect. But I was cold, hungry, and utterly seduced by the idea of dumplings, custard and a sweet poppy seed butter in one dish. And they have become one of my favourite puddings-something for a cold day, when you are enjoying a cold day indoors with the sort of friends who are willing to give you a hand with mixing dough or heating up custard, or even just chat while you shape and fill the buns.

My knowledge of Austrian cuisine really only goes so far as germknödel. But as far as introductions go, they make a spectacular one. The name germknödel, and their English description of jam dumpling evokes a heavy stodgy dish- in fact they are surprisingly light- in terms of taste, at least.

Germknodel for three.

The recipe came from a Guardian article 'The 10 Best Dumpling Recipes', which is as good as it sounds. If you want to make your own custard, I recommend Delia's recipe- it is very good. However, the dumpling recipe is quite involved, so I think good shop bought custard would be a perfectly acceptable accompaniment.

The dough after proving- it is very soft and silky, and really nice to work with!