Czech Plum Dumplings with Brown Butter, Sweet Quark and Poppy Seeds

Slit each plum along one side and ease out the pit without splitting the fruit in half, then tuck a sugar cube or square of marzipan into the cavity and press the plum closed again.

Serves 4 (makes 12 dumplings)

Ingredients

• 12 small ripe Italian prune plums, firm but fragrant
• 12 sugar cubes or 12 small squares of marzipan
• 1 pound (about 2 cups) full-fat quark or dry-curd farmer cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 cup fine semolina
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup ground poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 cup thick sour cream or additional sweetened quark, for serving

Instructions

1. Slit each plum along one side and ease out the pit without splitting the fruit in half, then tuck a sugar cube or square of marzipan into the cavity and press the plum closed again.
2. Beat the quark with the eggs and salt until smooth, then work in the flour and semolina with a wooden spoon until a soft, slightly tacky dough comes together. Do not knead it — overworking turns the dumplings tough and rubbery.
3. Cover the dough and rest it 30 minutes at room temperature. The semolina needs this time to hydrate, and the rested dough handles far more willingly.
4. Divide the dough into 12 pieces on a well-floured surface. Flatten each into a disc about 4 inches across and roughly 1/4 inch thick.
5. Set a stuffed plum in the center of each disc and draw the dough up around it, pinching the seams firmly closed and rolling the dumpling between floured palms until it is a smooth ball with no visible seam.
6. Bring a wide pot of salted water to a bare simmer — not a rolling boil, which batters the dumplings apart. Lower them in a few at a time so the pot is never crowded.
7. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes. The dumplings will float within the first couple of minutes, but they need the full time after surfacing for the dough to cook through to the plum.
8. While they cook, melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat and let it foam, then keep going until the milk solids at the bottom turn nut-brown and the smell shifts from creamy to toasted. Pull it off the heat immediately.
9. Lift the dumplings out with a slotted spoon, draining well, and roll them gently in the brown butter to coat.
10. Arrange them on plates, shower with ground poppy seeds and powdered sugar, and add a spoonful of thick sour cream alongside. Serve at once, while the plum inside is still molten.
11. Ovocne knedliky arrive every August and September in Czech kitchens, when the small blue-purple svestky plums come in by the crate and the fruit is sweet enough to need almost no help. They occupy a peculiar and wonderful place in Czech life — sweet, but often eaten as a whole main course rather than a dessert, a habit that scandalizes visitors and delights everyone who tries it. The quark-based dough here is the tender modern version; older recipes use a yeasted or potato dough that is sturdier and chewier. The ground poppy seed topping is not decorative but essential, adding a faintly bitter, nutty edge that keeps all that sugar and brown butter from becoming cloying.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 560 kcal
• Protein: 21g
• Fat: 26g
• Carbohydrates: 62g
• Fiber: 5g
• Sugar: 24g
• Sodium: 540mg