Honey drop dumplings

• porții: Serves 4 as part of a br

Ingrediente

For the dough

250g (8¾oz/1¾ cups plus 2 tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour

1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar

100ml (3½fl oz/scant ½ cup) warm milk

½ tsp dried yeast

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp salted butter, melted, or unsalted butter and 2 pinches of salt

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp good-quality honey handful of raisins, soaked in 2-3 tbsp milk

For the topping

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs

To serve

soft brown sugar crème fraîche

Instrucțiuni

Sieve the flour into a large bowl, add the sugar, warm milk, yeast, egg, melted butter, vanilla extract and honey.

Mix everything well with your hand to form a dough - it will be quite sticky at first. This mixing is to make sure that the dough becomes smooth and comes cleanly away from your hand, about 5-7 minutes. Incorporate the raisins and their soaking liquid into the dough. Cover with a clean dish towel and leave for 50 minutes in a warm place to rise.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. If the dough is soft, take teaspoonfuls of it and plop them straight into the pan of bubbling water. If the dough is harder and can be rolled, then use your hands to make little cylinders 2-3cm (¾-14in) in length. When they float to the top (which will happen almost immediately), give them 1 more minute and remove with a slotted spoon, shaking off any excess water, and keep warm. Cook the dumplings in batches (about 10 at a time, depending on pan size) and set aside once cooked.

Meanwhile, for the topping, heat the butter in a pan and fry the breadcrumbs until they are medium brown.

Put the cooked dumplings straight into the pan with the breadcrumbs. Toss to coat in the breadcrumbs, sprinkle with soft brown sugar and serve with crème fraîche.

Note

Sweet dumplings can be eaten at any time of the day but they're most commonly enjoyed as a second breakfast (or brunch in the modern world) or as a podwieczorek (a late-afternoon snack). I find that the comforting sweetness of these fluffy dumplings makes them an ideal brunch food. While this is a super-simple recipe, the dough needs time to rise so the dumplings become fluffy when they cook - so leave it to rise while you get the other elements of your brunch ready.