Introduction: Czech Dumplings

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This is the recipe for one kind of czech dumplings.
There are so many kinds using yeast or baking powder, with or without egg, with or without stale bread.
It's a little like chili, bread, fried rice... everybody got his or her favourit/best recipe and everybody is right in a way.
This is my way to make these wonderful sponges :) So in case you are in need of very soaking dumplings (mybe your Goulash turned out to be a little too juicy) this is a good start.
Usually you would use a special flour, which is in czech called "hruba mouka", in german "doppelgriffig", "Dunst", "Wiener Griesler", "Spaetzlemehl", depending on the manufacturer.
This flour is a little coarser than normal all purpose or bread flour. So in this case I used a mixture of bread flour and semolina 2:1 which does work all right.

Step 1: Ingredients

In grams
  • 340g bread flour
  • 160g semolina
  • 1 egg
  • 1tsp salt
  • 150ml whey (leftover from cheesemaking, you can as well use ordinary water)
  • 1 sachet dry yeast
In ounces
  • 12oz bread flour
  • 5,6oz semolina
  • 1 egg
  • 1tsp salt
  • 5fl. oz. whey
  • 1 sachet dry yeast

Step 2: Tools

  •     kitchen scales
  •     1 big bowl
  •     1 large wooden/plastic spoon (opt. bread machine, food processor)
  •     1 large pot
  •     thread

Step 3: Procedure

  • mix yeast with a little water (aprox. 1 Tsp)
  • measure water, flour, semolina and salt; beat egg
  • mix semolina and flour (works best when you pour them together through a sieve), add salt and egg
  • form a puddle in flour and pour yeast in, cover with a little flour
  • wait till flour cracks and you can see the yeast work
  • mix in water (slowly) and form a dough (the semolina makes the dough very sticky, it will be much much better to handle after it had time to rest)
  • dough should be rather soft but not too moist...
  • put wet towel over your bowl and take a nap (read a book/start an instructable/prepare lunch with lots of sauce)


Most important: leave the dough alone for about 1 hour

Step 4: 1 Hour Later

  • take dough out of bowl and knead it once more, use some more flour if it's still too sticky
  • seperate dough in 2-3 parts, form loafs and let them rest for another 20-30 min
  • boil water in your largest pot and add some salt (as if you would like to cook some pasta)
  • add loafs to boiling water, cover and decrease heat (it should simmer, not boil)
  • turn once after 10-15min
  • take out after 20-25 min
  • cut with thread
Enjoy :)

Step 5: Leftover?!

The obvious way to use any leftovers is to simpy reheat them over steam (in a strainer).
You could take the slices as a bread substitute in french toast, make croutons with them, toast them and eat them with butter/jam/cheese...
Use them to make breaddumplings or let them dry and grind them up to use them as breadcrumbs.