Sweet Labneh Dumplings with Toasted Cardamom Crumbs and Sumac Cherries

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Despite living in Feldkirch, a small Austrian village near Liechtenstein’s border, for close to a year before starting university, I had never actually visited Vienna until a work trip in March 2023. While Austrian food seems to fly somewhat on the radar globally, thanks to my year in Feldkirch I already knew how phenomenal Austrian food is. In particular for someone as much into sweets and baked goods as I am. So I used my 36h in Vienna to get my fill of all the delicious Austrian food. In particular Austrian pastries and desserts made with Topfen.

Now, for the uninitiated, Topfen is what the Germans call Quark (and the French call Fromage Blanc). In short, it is a type of fresh curd cheese made with soured milk. Typically low in fat (although you can buy Topfen with different fat percentages) and high in protein you can use Topfen in much the same way as Yoghurt or Ricotta. In Austria (and Germany for that matter), Topfen (or Quark) forms the basis of cheesecakes, fillings for pastries and dumplings (“Knödel” or “Nockerl” in Austria), both savoury and sweet. Today, I want to share with you a recipe for the latter, but with a bit of a twist of course.

Topfenknödel or Topfennockerl (i.e. fresh curd cheese dumplings) are prepared in a similar way to Italian Gnudi - instead of Ricotta, here you simply mix Topfen with egg, salt and some semolina and/or bread crumbs for binding. The dumplings are then cooked in simmering water until they float to the surface before being rolled in breadcrumbs that have been caramelised in butter and mixed with sugar. They are typically served with a roasted fruit compote (“Röster” in Austria) and, should you so wish, some whipped cream on the side.

I was keen to try something a little less traditional and give these Topfenknödel a Middle Eastern twist. If I learned anything from eating my weight in Topfenknödel in Vienna and a whole lot of gnudi that Kaja and I made for one of our Two Kitchens Brussels Supperclubs is that you can probably make these types of dumplings with a number of different kinds of dairy, as long as you make sure that whatever you are using is not too liquid and/or you use extra semolina and/or breadcrumbs to absorb any excess water.

So instead of the traditional Topfen, these dumplings are made with Labneh. Labneh is something I often have at home (or at least a big tub of Greek yoghurt that can be transformed into Labneh overnight) and one of my favourite ingredients to use. It’s lusciously thick and beautifully milky and works wonders in so many different applications - as a bed for fried eggs and some za’atar oil drizzle for breakfast, as a stand-in for sour cream to top soup, to make cheesecake when you are out of cream cheese, to mix with whipping cream to make labneh whipped cream etc. etc. etc. To finish, these Sweet Labneh Dumplings are rolled in a Toasted Cardamom Crumbs. To serve, I made some Sumac Cherries (but any poached or roasted or macerated fruits would work). And yes, if all you have at home or have access to is Ricotta or Topfen/Quark - by all means use that.

Sweet Labneh Dumplings

Serves 4

Note: There is nothing particularly tricky about these sweet Labneh Dumplings and the whole recipe comes together quite quickly. While the dumpling dough needs to rest for 30 minutes, you can use that time to make the Sumac Cherries and prepare the Toasted Cardamom Crumbs. And it goes without saying that the Sumac Cherries can easily substituted with other fruit based on what is in season / what you already have at home. Other stone fruits like plums or apricots are particularly nice. And even if there is only two of you, make the whole recipe - any leftover dumplings are phenomenal fried in butter!

Ingredients

Sweet Labneh Dumplings

250g labneh* (alternatively Ricotta or Quark/Topfen)
1 egg
60g semolina
40g breadcrumbs
Pinch of salt

*If not readily available, make your own by straining 500g Greek yoghurt (min. 6% fat) in a cheesecloth lined colander or similar overnight. This will make slightly more labneh than you need for the dumplings but any leftovers can be used on toast, with fruit and granola or as a dip for example.

Toasted Cardamom Crumbs

30g butter
125g breadcrumbs
Pinch of salt
6 cardamom pods, finely ground
2 tbsp sugar

Sumac Cherries

350g canned or fresh cherries
1 tsp sumac
1 tbsp sugar / to taste
1 tbsp cornstarch
200ml juice from the cherries if using canned cherries, otherwise water

Directions

1. Start by making the dough for the Labneh Dumplings. In a bowl whisk together the labneh, eggs, semolina, breadcrumbs and salt until everything is well amalgamated and you have a homogenous dough. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Once ready, the Dumpling Dough should be very thick.
   

2. For the Toasted Cardamom Breadcrumbs, melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan on medium. Add the breadcrumbs, salt and ground cardamom and cook the breadcrumbs, stirring frequently, until golden brown in colour and fragrant. Stir in the sugar and set aside.
   

3. To make the Sumac Cherries, heat the cherries, sumac and sugar in a medium saucepan until steaming. Dissolve the cornstarch in the cherry juice or water then add the cornstarch slurry to the saucepan. Bring to a boil until the sauce starts thickening. Set aside.
   

4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then reduce the heat until the water is simmering. Using an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon (or wet hands) drop dumplings the size of ping pong balls into the simmering water (you might have to do this in batches depending on the size of your pan). If you are unsure whether the dumpling dough is thick enough, do a test dumpling. If the dumpling falls apart, add another tablespoon or so of semolina or breadcrumbs to the tough, mix and set aside for a further 15 minutes. The dumplings are ready after ca. 10 minutes and when they start floating on the surface. Using a slotted spoon remove the dumplings from the water. Roll each dumpling in the Toasted Cardamom Crumbs and serve with a few spoons of the Sumac Cherries.