In the Czech kitchen: Czech dumplings are delightfully doughy with fruit or without

They are fluffy (the original word was kynuté), filled with fruit, and served in fragrant melted butter. It’s time to taste the famous dumplings that guests hike to Prague Castle's Kuchyň restaurant for. One dumpling is enough to fill your tastebuds with delicious joy, especially if the dough has properly risen so that it is fluffy and ready to be wrapped in juicy seasonal fruit. 

The recipe requires the same procedure as a classic bun dumpling  (klasický houskový knedlík), minus the bun. Add the coarse flour (hrubá mouka) and salt, rolled yeast, sugar, and eggs into a bowl. The last ingredient is the slightly warmed milk, which encourages the yeast to start working. A well-kneaded dough should be smooth, elastic, and just stiff enough. 

And what about the leaven (rozkvas)? In the case of dumplings, it is optional because the dough does not contain fat, which would make it difficult for the yeast to work. If you're used to sourdough starter, let it rise with some of the milk, sugar, yeast, and a tablespoon of flour and stir it into the sifted flour with a pinch of salt and an egg. 

The future dumplings go through several stages. The first time the dough rises in the mixing bowl (which you should leave covered with a towel!) it doubles in volume. The dumplings are then rolled out into individual portions: the 100-gram pieces are rolled into firm balls and left to sit for 10 minutes under the towel before adding their filling. 

The next step involves stretching the dough loaves into round patties, which are filled and closed like a pouch. The top is tightened firmly and rolled into a regular shape. There are several reasons for this: it makes the dumplings look nice, but above all, the excess air is released from the dumplings so that the dough does not shrink when cooking. 

The ratio of dough to filling depends on your taste. In the Kuchyň restaurant, each dumpling can hold 50 g of breadcrumbs or 70 g of fruit. The thickness of the dough should be uniform, otherwise, the thinner layers risk being torn by escaping steam.

Filled dumplings need one more step before they’re ready to eat. Cooks place them on an oiled baking tray and sprinkle them with water from a spray bottle so that they don't dry out over the next 20 to 45 minutes – the exact final rising time depends on the ambient temperature and the looseness of the dough. 

The pros cook the dumplings in a kettle: thanks to the steam, they can do it in 16 minutes. Home cooks are likely to opt for a steamer fan (napařovací vějíř) or a saucepan, which is worth buttering beforehand. The dumplings tend to stick to the steamer, as well as sticking together if they don’t have enough room, as the heat causes air pockets in the dough to expand; since they are full of evaporating water, the dumplings continue to expand as they cook. 

Pierce the cooked dumplings with a fork! The steam accumulated inside must come out, otherwise, the dough will curdle. Immediately afterward, brush the still-hot dumplings with butter.

The filling is based on the fruits that are in season. In June, you will enjoy dumplings with whole strawberries and rhubarb, which are sliced 3 to 4 centimeters thin and sweetened with icing sugar. They are served with fresh strawberries, pickled rhubarb, and grated cottage cheese from Krasolesí, with sugar and a good dose of butter –  at least 50 g per dumpling!

During the summer, you can swap strawberries for apricots; the fresh fruit sprinkled with sugar is hidden in the dough, while the sauce of cooked apricots also serves as a topping together with the curd and butter. In autumn, plums are a natural fit for the recipe, while winter is the best time for rum-diluted marmalade (povidla ředění rumem), with the classic sprinkling of poppy seeds and icing sugar.