Strawberry Dumplings – Czech Jahodové knedlíky

If there's one thing Czech cuisine is famous for, it's dumplings! Bread dumplings, potato dumplings or sweet fruit dumplings. In today's article, I am going to present you with a delicious summer recipe for dumplings filled with fresh strawberries. It's quick and easy and the whole family will love it!

➜ About the recipe

Czech jahodové knedlíky are small dumplings, each filled with a fresh strawberry. The strawberries are wrapped in a thin dough made from 'tvaroh' cheese, flour and egg.

The dumplings are then boiled in water and served warm in halves as a main dish or dessert. They are usually sprinkled with icing sugar, drizzled with melted butter and decorated with a dollop of sour cream.

MY TIP: Looking for more ideas to satisfy your sweet tooth? These yeast dough fruit dumplings are a fantastic treat and one of the Czech national dishes!

➜ Pronunciation

This recipe is known as "Jahodové knedlíky" in Czech. I've recorded a short audio clip with the pronunciation so you can order these dumplings in a restaurant when you visit the Czech Republic!

➜ Ingredients

To make homemade strawberry dumplings from scratch, you will need the following:

MY TIP: The cheese and eggs should ideally be at room temperature. They will be easier to combine with the flour when kneading the dough.

➜ How to make strawberry dumplings

Cleaning strawberries

STEP 1: Remove the stalks from the strawberries, wash and dry well.

Preparing dumpling dough

STEP 2: Put the flour, fine semolina and baking powder into a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the farmer's cheese and eggs.

STEP 3: Mix quickly with a fork, then turn out onto a floured surface and work into a non-sticky dough. Make a small pile of flour on the side and add some to the dough if it is too sticky.

Shaping dumplings

STEP 4: Form the dough into a roll. Cut it into equally sized pieces and flatten each into a thin patty. Place a washed and perfectly dried strawberry in the center. Wrap the strawberry around the dumpling and seal tightly.

Roll between your hands to give the dumpling a nice round shape. The dumpling should be about 2 1/2 inches (6-7 cm) in diameter.

NOTE: Dry the strawberries thoroughly before filling the dumplings. Also, keep your hands dry when shaping the dumplings. Water residue or wet hands will harm the consistency of the dough and cause it to tear.

Cooking dumplings

STEP 5: Bring the water to the boil in a large saucepan. Add a pinch of salt and reduce the heat to about half. Carefully drop the dumplings into the boiling water and cook for 5-6 minutes, depending on size.

You don't need to flip the dumplings. If the dumplings get stuck to the bottom of the saucepan, loosen them with a fork so that they float to the top.

STEP 6: Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked dumplings to a plate.

➜ How to serve and topping tips

Cut the dumplings in half so you can see the strawberry inside. Put them on a plate, add about 2-3 tablespoons of sour cream per serving and an equal amount of powdered sugar.

Drizzle with about a tablespoon of melted butter and serve as a sweet lunch or afternoon dessert.

Another topping option is breadcrumbs fried in butter and mixed with granulated sugar. Our neighbors in Austria love strawberry dumplings generously coated with fried sweet breadcrumbs!

A fancy option is to prepare a strawberry sauce to go with the dumplings.

Last tip: You may have heard that one of the traditional Czech toppings for fruit dumplings is ground poppy seed with powdered sugar. This variant is most suitable for plum dumplings.

➜ Storage

It is rare that these fruit dumplings are left over!

If they do, or if you're making a large batch to stock up on, allow the dumplings to cool. Then place them in a deep bowl, cover the top carefully with cling film and place in the fridge. They will keep for up to four days.

You can also freeze the dumplings in an airtight container for up to three months.

➜ How to reheat the strawberry dumplings

The most reliable method of reheating is to steam the strawberry dumplings. The cooked cheese dough becomes stiffer as it cools, so I recommend heating the dumplings in a humid environment.

A quicker option is to heat the dumplings in the microwave. In this case, place them in a plastic bag with a little water on the inside.

➜ A quick note about Czech flour

You may have heard that we Czechs usually cook with three types of flour.

One is "hladká", which is the equivalent of all-purpose flour in the US. Then we have semi-coarse "polohrubá" and coarse "hrubá" flour.

Coarse flour (available in the US in some European grocery stores, such as Polish or German delis) is usually used for dumpling dough.

If you don't have coarse flour, here's a tip: Replace about a third of the all-purpose flour with fine semolina (farina, cream of wheat). I also add a pinch of baking powder, which makes the dough more soft and less chewy.

➜ Czech Tvaroh substitution

While tvaroh is a common ingredient in the Czech Republic, it's probably not so easy to find abroad.

Therefore, I offer some possible substitutes for making the dumplings without tvaroh: Farmers cheese (probably the best substitution), Ricotta cheese, cottage cheese or a common cream cheese with a neutral taste.

If you use ricotta, I recommend passing it through a sieve to get a fine cheese mass.

TIP: I also have a recipe here for making homemade Czech tvaroh cheese!

If you have a grocery store near you that sells European products, you can find cottage cheese there: Quark (German), Topfen (Austria), Twaróg (Polish), Túró (Hungarian).

➜ Useful tips

• Important: The amount of flour for the dumpling dough listed on the recipe card assumes you are using Farmer's cheese. If you use any other cheese, add the flour slowly so that the dough holds together well and doesn't stick together.
• Cook the dumplings for no more than 6 minutes or the strawberry inside will overcook and lose its firm shape.
• In addition to strawberries, you can fill the cheesecake dumplings with other round fruits that are in season, such as pitted apricots or plums.

More sweet recipes:

• Strawberry Coffee Cake – jahodový koláč
• Bublanina – Czech fruit cake with cherries
• Buchty – sweet-filled yeast buns
• Cold strawberry soup

For knedlíky dumpling lovers, there is a special category with different kinds of Czech dumplings.