Have you met my favorite chicken and dumpling dish? Well, let me introduce you to its sweet summer fling: strawberries and dumplings, or in this case, strawberries so tiny, one took a nap inside a soda cap and dumplings so plump, they nudged and piled upon one another like newborn puppies. Yes, in case that didn’t give it away: the cuteness of this dish nearly killed me dead.
I caught this “Dessert of the Month” from Gourmet.com last week, and knew it had to be ours. I won’t lie, as soon as it becomes remotely summery around here I spend more of my time scheming ways to avoiding cooking than I do actually fixing things. Quick-stewed strawberries with an easy dough scooped on top? Sold, to the laziest bidder!
I am endlessly entertained by baked fruit desserts, and frankly, the goofier the name the better — peach slumps and blueberry buckles and apple bettys and pear pandowdys. Searching around, it sounds like this type of dumpling topping most closely resembles a grunt (tee hee, though I understand this is technically no different than a “slump”) though about half the grunt recipes I looked at also included an egg and all of them suggested you bake them in the oven, not on the stove. Still, the resemblances are there — a soft dumpling plopped on gurgling fruit to make a quick, no-fuss, homey dessert. And how much fun will it be to tell your friends that they’re gettin’ a “grunt” for dessert!
As it turns out, I make a lot of things with strawberries. Previously: Strawberry Sorbet, Strawberry Shortcakes, Strawberry Chiffon Shortcake, Strawberry Rhubarb Pecan Loaf, Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble, Strawberry Tart, Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Strawberry Coulis, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Strawberry Pink Lady Cake and an Almond Cake with Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote
One year ago: Pizza with Red and Yellow Peppers
Two years ago: Dilled Potato and Pickled Cucumber Salad
Strawberries and Dumplings
Adapted wildly from Gourmet
Being difficult — er, being “me” — I changed a whole lot of things about the original recipe. It sounded like it would be way too sweet, especially for my market-fresh peak-season berries, and boy, am I glad I dialed back the sugar by almost two-thirds because it needs nothing more. I added lemon juice, because it makes strawberries sing. And then, because I already knew that the dumpling recipe I’d used previously was perfect in every way — less wet and using less baking powder than the Gourmet version — I decided to not fix what wasn’t broken. The end result? A hole in one recipe, and an awesome weekday night treat. Or maybe breakfast, when I come at it with some Greek yogurt tomorrow morning. Gah, is it tomorrow yet?
Serves 6, in theory
1 quart (about 2 pints or 4 cups or 1.25 pounds or just shy of 600 grams) strawberries, trimmed and thickly sliced (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup sugar (though I might try this with brown sugar next time, just to up the cozy quotient)
Juice of half a lemon
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Accompaniment: Heavy cream
Stir together strawberries, sugar and lemon in a 4-quart heavy saucepan and let stand, stirring occasionally, until juicy, about 15 minutes. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Heat the milk and butter together just until the butter melts. Stir this warmed milk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until incorporated and smooth. Gather a golf-ball-sized portion of the dumpling batter onto a small spoon, then push the dumpling onto the stew using a second spoon. (I used a small cookie scoop for this — a #70. It made 16 dumplings. Yes, I counted because someone always asks these things!) Cover the fruit with the dumplings, leaving about 1/4 inch between each.
Tightly cover saucepan and reduce heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, until dumpling looks dry on top, 15 to 18 minutes; the dumplings will have doubled in size. Let stand off heat, uncovered, five minutes, then drizzle with heavy cream right before serving.
This dish definitely tastes best freshly made, as the dumplings do dry out a bit by the second. But then it starts to taste like a cobbler, and really, who is going to complain about that?
Just had to say that strawberry is the cutest thing ever.
This looks absolutely divine and the perfect summer dessert!
Um. I can’t see the recipe. Did I miss something?
Wow that looks amazing! I just left London though and berries back here in Bangkok is scarily expensive.. But I must say, it is wholly compensated by dirt cheap lychees the size of my fist! Mm!
Where’s the recipe?
Recipe is there now. Accidentally hit “publish” a moment too soon. My goodness!
I almost fainted from the delicious overload when I saw that first photo. Can’t wait for the recipe. And a link to the chicken & dumplings recipe, please.
You’re killing me. KILLING me. This is the first year I’m growing strawberries (in a hanging planter). They’re all tiny (bottle cap size) but delicious and they are SO going into this deliciousnesssssss.
haha Deb – you should take it as a compliment that a handful of people notice a missing recipe in the several moments it takes you to publish the complete post. You are IN DEMAND.
Isn’t summer great? Things are so wonderful, they need so little to make them their absolute best. (If only that was the case with me at 6 AM.)
And just think those little dumplings will be replaced with your own little dumpling soon. (Though within the next month or two, it won’t be soon enough. The novelty of eating whatever you want will wear off 40 pounds later. Or perhaps that’s just me and my lack of self control.)
My gramma used to make Blackberry Dumplings every summer. So delicious with ice cream!
I have ziploc bags of flash frozen strawberries, which we picked ourselves a few weeks ago. Think I can use those and maybe just increase their cooking time?
Super cute and easy, especially since I also have those low ramekins. The kids will love it with some whipped cream — TONIGHT!
Looks and sounds fabulous! What a wonderful combination!
This looks amazing – a lovely summer dessert! How cute are those strawberries? Thanks Deb!
Looks fantastic! I have been having strawberries and cream (well, cool whip… trying to watch the calories) all summer long so far. This looks even better.
Ummm, wow!
That looks amazing!
Summer strawberries! I get mine from Berried Treasures at the Union Square Farmers Market, which are cross-bred with wild strawberries, so tiny and so delicious. I’m usually loathe to do anything with them besides washing them, but I might have to give this a try.
Strawberries are my favorite. I love your take on strawberry shortcake, so to speak.
i’ve had this sitting on my coffee table a few days now. I need to limp over to the market to pick up strawberries. maybe this saturday, i’ll brave the weather and mosey on down!!
I meant to say earlier… my bf’s favorite fruit is a strawberry, and I just so happen to have some in my fridge, waiting to be enjoyed. Looks like the perfect thing for this weekend!
This looks so good- I’ve never heard of dumplings with fruit before. What a great idea, I’ll have to try this very soon! Also, LOVE the cute napping strawberry.
I am making this tonight. It just sounds so simple and interesting and delicious!
Sounds and look marvelous!
Ooohh now I know what to make for father’s day! I am going to add rhubarb to mine!!
Holy shit. I can’t remember the last time I wanted to scoot my chair away from a monitor and RUN straight into a kitchen to make something. Damnit.
Oh goodness – this looks delicious. I’ve got baskets of tiny British strawberries myself and love dumplings. Not sure what I want more- this dessert or one of those baby puppies. Slump, grunt, betty, dumpling – perfect names for those pugs!
I’m going to the Mattituck Strawberry Festival out on Long Island this weekend, so I’m just going to buy as many strawberries as I can and make this dish because it looks so incredibly delicious!
OMG! I’m drooling here! This looks so amazing – your pictures are awesome. I wish I was your best friend and lived next door.
Nice switch! Dumplings in savory dishes are so good…why not the sweet ones? Yum.
thank you thank you thank you!!!! I was just bugging my mom the other day about her cherry dumpling recipe which she didn’t remember. I was so bummed but now you post this! It’s on mom (I know she reads your blog) you make your cherry dumplings and I’ll make Deb’s strawberry dumplings and we’ll see who wins!
Mmmm this looks awesome! AND so easy to make vegan! I think your site’s RSS feed is the worst thing about being vegan.
Oh Deb! I was just coming to your site to search for strawberry recipes! I went berry picking and after making jam, I still have several pounds to deal with. This is so perfect! Thank you.
OK, now I have to make those because once again, you’ve made a recipe I wouldn’t give a second look to wildly appealing.
I’m not sure I want to analogize my food to newborn pugs though.
I am definitely going to try this tonight (with your brown sugar option)! I have been making batch after batch of freezer jam to use up my garden strawberries, so I feel like I haven’t really gotten to sit down and ENJOY them while they are in season. Although I know I will appreciate the jam in January/February when strawberry season seems so far away!
Wowsers. My list-of-thing-to-make-with-strawberries is getting too freakin’ long! I plan to spend saturday this exact way. But I’m wondering – how does this sound with blueberries & lime juice?? This is my new favorite combo. If I do it I’ll let you know what happens…
I just bought the MOST amazing tri-star strawberries at union square…which would be perfect for this…except I ate them all.
But this looks so cute I may have to get more.
oh my golly.
For the frozen berry question…I would decrease the first 15 minute cooking time at the start of the recipe.
Freezing berries typically causes them to soften and creates a little ‘extra’ juice when they thaw. Extra cooking will create a texture like applesauce. (Unless that is the texture you want-then go for it!)
I’d follow the ingredient list as posted utilizing your thawed berries and ‘extra’ juice. (Note- if you sweetened the berries before freezing you may want to reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe.) Add the dumplings as soon as the berries start to simmer and then follow the directions as printed.
The best part about your berries is that they are already cleaned and you should have a slightly shorter cooking time!
Deb, what do you think of using buttermilk instead of milk?
Shawna — Definitely think it would work. Even better if you can find full fat.
Ha! “Serves 6, in theory”. Love it. This looks wicked good, I’m definitely going to try it out. My girlfriend is always buying more berries than we can eat, I need new things to do with them!
Matt Bites cracks me up … but he’s right. If I weren’t trapped in cube hell at the moment, I’d run out to my local farmers’ market (fortunately, we have them on Thursdays, too), buy up these little jewels and get to work. Except, over-the-top as I am, I’ll probably serve them with some partially melted vanilla ice cream instead of cream. OMG, I have to get off this page, or I will go AWOL from the office….
Great minds. I made this last week with fresh, sweetened strawberries we froze last year. If (anyone) can spare a bit of freezer space freezing berries is a great way to have them all year. Ours are already sweetened and can be added right to pies, etc.
My in-laws (next weekend) will thank you for this one. Guess that means I owe you big time. And I love the idea of using your tried and true dumpling recipe (from a savory recipe, nonetheless)!
Could you make these dumplings with 1% milk? I don’t usually keep whole in the house and for most things, 1% is fine, but not sure about these dumplings. TIA.
Le – Thanks for the help on the frozen berries!
I only have skim milk, greek yogurt and sour cream in the house, any ideas on how to proceed with the dumplings?
Can’t bear to go out in the rain for whole milk!
Oh yum! I’d like to make this with rhubarb.
Also, I bet you could make this on a camping stove really easily!
That looks AMAZING! I always add a little cornstarch or fruit pectin as a thickener to any hot berry recipe (to avoid the whole ‘soup overload’ thing) but your berries look pretty solid!
This sounds so fresh and simple and delish! You know what you should try? French-fried Strawberries!! The firemen always had a French-friend Strawberry booth at the Homecoming festival in my hometown…. I’ve never seen them anywhere else, but my dad starting making them and his are even better! They’re super simple… Mix up some Bisquick for a batter, coat the plump, fresh strawberries (hulled but still whole), fry them in some oil, then roll them in a little powdered sugar when they’re still warm. Serve with a toothpick! Mmmmmmmmm They’re best when they’re still warm.
I loveeee dumplings but have never thought to serve them with strawberries! Good idea? Or best. idea. ever?!?!
This recipe looks simply delicious. I must try this when my sister comes to town next weekend and hopefully I will dazzle her with my culinary skills!
Just saw the itty, bitty blurb about you thanks to this month’s edition of Better Homes and Gardens. I nearly missed it and did a double take followed by an uneccessary-though-excited “Eep, Deb!” earning me plenty awkward glances. One of which was my mother’s, prompting an afternoon of recipe trolling. “What’s a blog? You can do that to grapes?” Bonding in the Smitten Kitchen. Thanks, Deb.
you had me at “plopped on gurgling fruit”…I am equally entertained by silly fruit dish names. I’m all about cutting back the sugar…Our Farmer’s Market has a stand that has my fave strawberries…actually labeled “sweet as sugar”! This looks super perfect!
Thanks for this, I’ve been thinking about fruit dumplings but have never tried to make it yet. You’re right, the difference between recipes for grunts and fools and pandowdies and the like are so narrow..most only differ by method of cooking! If that weren’t enough, your dumplings are an egg and 1/2 cup sugar away from being my favorite coffee cake (sans crumb topping, natch) I never find those tiny little berries here in CA. I think it’s an eastern cultivation from those wondreful wild berries I used to hunt in upstate NY. Gads..they were so good and this would be a great use for them..or any berry, really.
I take that back…if I ever found those tiny strawberries..they’d only see the inside of my mouth; never a pan or stove!
that’s a happy, berry-loving baby in your belly!
I love caramel dumplings, so I’m sure that this would also be delicious. I’ll have to make some once my strawberries ripen.
Oh wow this looks like a perfect summer dessert in every way. Name, ingredients, the fact that you don’t have to turn on the STOVE! I’m very excited…
Yum!
“One took a nap in a soda cap.”
You’re absolutely adorable. And I’m so ready to try this recipe, it isn’t even funny. How did I miss it last month???
Love it! I grew up eating blackberry dumplings made by Granny. They had blackberry vines along the back of the garden & we’d go pick them each Sunday.
Oooh! Ooooh! Laziest bidder here!! Now this is my kinda simple!
“serves 6, in theory.”
Lol!
I swear to god this blog is going to make me gain 9 million pounds. But if there’s strawberries in this, it must be healthy.
Wow- way to go, Deb! This looks fantastic!
I wonder…I have 3 pounds of cherries in the fridge. Could I possibly get them juicy enough to stew the dumplings? Hmm…yum!
I might have to take this recipe and add some of the rhubarb I picked up from the farmer’s market. I really want a quick warm dessert for dinner tonight (umm, with dinner tonight). I’ll have to re-look at your other rhubarb recipes. I kind of fell down with the cheese straws.
Those strawberries are adorable.
Myrnie- I am not Deb but I definetely think cherries would work. Really, almost any berries or stone fruit would work. If it looks like it needs more liquid, I would add more lemon juice – Deb is right about them making the fruit sing.
That looks so summery and delicious!
I want to marry your blog. Can you point us towards some of the “everyday” recipes that won’t make us gain 6 jillion pounds? Like an “eat this tonight so you can also make a dessert” category? I beg of you…
Amy — That’s a good idea. Most of our “everyday” recipes are Vegetarian, actually, which means you can find them here. (We keep cured meats around for the one of us that might miss ‘flesh’ when eating salad for dinner.) I’m particularly enamored these days with the Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte, Zucchini Strand Spaghetti, and the Quick Zucchini Saute.
Update: Actually, I liked your idea enough that I added a “Seasonal Favorites” section to the sidebar. Might need to clear your cache to see it (cacheing system only updates once or twice an hour). I’ll try to keep it updated. Thanks for the idea!
Can you think of some sort of a cheese ball – or adding some cheese – to the dumplings? There is an Indian dessert which I can’t name, which is these light cheese balls in a sweet sort of milk sauce. It is common. I think those light, almost sweet, cheese ‘dumplings’ would be great with the strawberry sauce.
If this comes anywhere close to those wonderful blueberry crumb bars, I’m in!!
Thank you so very much. Dinner for the next 3 nights-check!
Ooooh wee! This looks scrumptious. I think it would make a wonderful breakfast :) Maybe with some buttered toast & honey…oh boy.
You have great taste in food.
That looks amazing. And here I was all “I’ll have a peach cobbler/crumble for my birthday, yes yes” and then you come along all shiny with strawberries and eggless toppings. I’ll just have to see what I can find that week of July!
Oh god, I need this. This will be my reward to myself for spending my Saturday morning inside of an MRI machine. :)
More proof that you are a closet Southern Belle!
SLF, are you thinking of gulab jamun, maybe? That’s the most dumplingesque one I can think of.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I bought a bunch of stawberries at the farmer’s market yesterday and wanted something new and different to do with it for a dinner party tomorrow night! This was fate.
i’m not sure why, but i always associate dumplings with chicken or meat, so as a vegetarian, i almost didn’t click to read on after the jump – i just thought this was an interesting way to serve meat and fruit together. :) i’m certainly glad i did keep reading, though, because these look tantalizing!
Just yesterday I made Plum crumble Cake which is of the melt in the mouth kind which I posted in my blog today! Came to check and you have dumplings which looks so yummy! I think I am going to gain pounds this month for sure!
Oh my, that looks luscious!
Mmmmmmmmmm. I bet this smells fantastic too. So summery.
This looks amazing! I saw the Gourmet recipe and almost made it before my husband talked me out of the whole thing (he’s not a fan of strawberries, but we’re working on it). :-) I absolutely cannot wait to try this.
So, I had to come home and make this dessert because we had all of the ingredients sitting around. We didn’t have whole milk or lemon juice. I used skim and a little bit of OJ, and the dessert turned out REALLY well. My fiance loved it, and I’m a huge fan. Here were my results (may not look as pretty as deb’s, but taste just as good, probably!) http://twitpic.com/7r57w Even better — it took about 30 minutes from sifting flour to in my mouth. And that 6 servings thing is outrageous. 2.5 MAYBE.
Looks amazing! Today my 12 year old daughter made “Meringues Chantilly” from Ina Garten that also utilized yummy fresh berries. Have you tried it? It was an all day affair, but allowed for lots of nap/reading/walking the dog breaks in between. Thought I’d mention it in case your already intense infatuation with strawberries progresses into a full blown craving:)
I love strawberries and this is an interesting dish.I can almost smell the strawberries..mmm
I adore the itty bitty strawberries. They are just begging to be plopped into your mouth. So sweet!
i’m not supposed to be eating this kind of stuff. you’re killing me…
I’d never heard of such a thing! Amazing sounding and looking!
I’m thrilled that strawberry season is upon us!
Yummy!! This is just like my blueberry grunt recipe. In fact, when I made blueberry grunt for my husband last week, he asked if I could make it with strawberries. He will be so happy with tomorrow’s dessert. :)
So I am a newcomer to Smitten Kitchen (the past month or so) and absolutely lovign it.
I tried this recipe with a few adjustments of my own. As I had no strawberries on hand today, I subbed with apricots and cherries. Also, used your brown sugar suggestion. It was delish!
Those strawberries are PERFECT! I need to go get me some good berries. Might try to hit the farmer’s market tomorrow. Might also need to try this.
Love the combination of strawberries and the dumplings, what a great new twist on strawberry shortcake!
Oh thank goodness. I got a huge box of strawberries from Union Square Wednesday and I made a spongecake for them, but this looks so much more adorable and delicious!
Have you heard of Blueberry Boy Bait? This was one of the first from scratch baking recipes that I ever tried. I have made the Allrecipes version, which I like for the recipe. The Cook’s Country version, however, has the story behind the name.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Boy-Bait/Detail.aspx
http://www.cookscountry.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=3546&bdc=42552
I love this idea, I have never tried dumblings I think I may have to try this though!
This is a traditional Quebec dish. Mostly done with raspberries. Memories of us going out as kids picking miniature strawberries – or wild raspberries and Mom would prepare what is called “Grand-peres” – Translatation: Grandfathers.
In the winter – these would of course be paired with meat stews and were meant to stretch the meal for the average 10+ children in a typical québecois family home.
Even if I wasn’t a strawberry lover, that seond photo had me hooked on reading this!
yum… I have a recipe almost exactly like this using blueberries instead of strawberries. I always serve it with ice cream, but the cream looks wonderful!
mmm, i am so happy it’s strawberry season! although i wish i had a few strawberry plants in my yard too.
Yum! Our CSA is giving us the best strawberries in San Diego County right now, even though they’re not quite as cute as yours, and this looks like a great way to use them.
These look fantastic. Too bad strawberry season here in Israel is over for the year. I suppose this will have to wait till next year.
What a heavenly dessert delight! The plumpness of the dumplings makes my hear (and tummy) so happy, guess its time to visit the farmer’s market for strawberries. Thank you for another great recipe!
“one took a nap in a soda cap” Deb–you are just adorable! Sounds like a nursery rhyme, which I’m sure you will invent lots of . . . love it . . . and love anything dumpling (be it sweet or savory dish) including the word! This is my dad’s main term of endearment . . . and just love any berry/summer fruit dumplings . . . I have those tiny, lucious, summer sweet & adorable strawberries in my fridge right now– from a farmers market on the other side of the city–uptown near Columbia U. . . tomm is a crazy day so I think I will be lazy and cheat by preparing these with some warmed up William Sonoma jarred cherry pie filling with the dumplings. Thank You & Goodnight
How is it possible that even your piles of strawberry top discards looks neat!
Mission accomplished. I did have to use skim milk for the dumplings, which I will change for full fat buttermilk next time. All things considered, it was delicious! The kids were especially fond of the cute dumplings, the melty vanilla ice cream, and the strawberries they picked themselves.
A great weeknight dessert!
Oh, my this is good! But my husband changed the name to “Strawberry Pig-out.” He’s romantic that way.
Oh my! That looks heavenly. I don’t even like dumplings, but I’d be willing to give these a chance.
Love it! I have to make me some grunt. Incidentally, I just morphed your strawberry pink lady cake into a raspberry one. It was fantastic!
These are such a wonderful spin on a old-fashioned favorite recipe!
i would’ve never thought of strawberry dumplings! how clever!! love it!!
Made these last night!!!! SOOO good. I was thinking Rhubarb would go good along with the strawberries. Thank you for the recipe. Keep them coming! Love your site
This is exactly my kind of dessert – all strawberry. I’ve read that grunts were given their name because of the sound the fruit and dumplings make while cooking, but the one time I stuck around to listen, I didn’t hear anything. I can’t wait to make this.
This recipe is a perfect marriage of all things summer. I wonder if I brought this to a summer potluck if it would be gone before the sausages come off the grill. I think so…me being among the guilty.
I’m contemplating a splash of balsamic once the berries have done their thing on the stove…
I have to ask – why is the huge pot necessary? it seems difficult to serve out of that, and it doesn’t seem to heat enough to warrant worrying about boiling over.
Kawa — You want to make sure there is enough room for the dumplings to double without piling up on one-another. They take up a lot of surface area. That said, a 3-quart (what I used) worked just fine.
I’m pretty sure that you just made my day. Hi Deb! You’re making the world lovely as usual!
All I can say is WOW
strawberry dumplings, cheese dumplings, chinese dumplings… you name it, I want it. This one is a keeper for sure!
I made this last night with a pint of strawberries from the farmer’s market and two stalks of rhubarb and a 1/3 cup of brown sugar. It was just the right amount of sweet for a quick weeknight dessert. Thank you!
So I made this last night and it was divine. I added a few touches of my own – zested some of the lemon rind into the dumpling batter, and topped it off with homemade whipped cream. I, however, am a bit more of a sweet-tooth than you – and I think next time I will add a touch more sugar to the strawberries or a bit less lemon.
At any rate, it was a burst of summer on a unseasonably cool and gray June day in upstate NY!
I think I am going to try this with peaches and use the brown sugar! And add a splash of OJ to the lemon juice because it seems to work with peach desserts.
This looks so good! I am definitely using strawberries at least once though.
Very creative and unexpected idea! we can imagine this kind of sweet dumpling with so many things? the trick will be to get them light and springy? and serve asap? good one. Thanks, s
As soon as the Big Crumb Rhubarb Cake is devoured by my family I’m going to make these! YUM!
What a unique dessert! I love that you added lemon juice, sounds so good!
They remind me of the sweet potato beignets I just had….only sweeter, and summery-er, and cuter!
Kay, this was so good and I didn’t think it would be. I didn’t have whole milk, but I put an egg yolk in with some low fat milk, and I had less strawberries, and I threw some vanilla beans in there, but it was bad ass. Good one.
i was super excited about making these today! but i have to say i’m a little less dissapointed. they were wayy too sour, maybe cuz i used a huge lemon. i think next time i’m def upping the sugar factor. thanks for the recipe though!
My mum has been raving about how good the strawberries are this season. I’m going to the shops today and will hopefully be making this for her tonight, Thanks heaps
I absolutely love strawberries and chicken and dumplings. I have to admit however that I’m one of those people who think that fresh fruit is best served as fresh. I think that you may have convinced me otherwise though… those strawberries and dumplings look absolutely delectable.
What a neat idea….strawberries and dumplings. Hmmmm….
I’m gonna make it…but I’m gonna brown the tops of the dumplings in the broiler…I miss dumplings now that I no longer do the chicken.
You heard me.
I.miss.dumplings :)
Hey guess what I made potato gnocci today. Not so much. Need more practice. Lucky the sauce was so delish, it saved it. I’m going to see if you have a better way to do it right now.
Um. I never thought of dumplings as a supremely sexy beast of a food…until now that is.
I feel like I could eat the page! They’re beautiful.
This looks heavenly. I just made a beautiful strawberry and cherry cobbler and my tweak on the standard recipe is to heat the fruit until it’s bubbly before adding the biscuit topping, preventing a soggy dough event. I guess the big difference between your dumplings and my cobbler is stovetop vs oven and covered vs not. I’ll have to give this a go soon, but I think our sudden summer rains may have turned our lovely Oregon berries soggy and bland. Luckily I tucked away plenty in the freezer!
Haha, it was that first pic what sold it for me! What a brilliant idea for serving fruit as dessert.
I’m making this for a pre-Father’s Day breakfast RIGHT NOW. It’s bubbling away on the stove, smelling like a jammy heaven. I loved knowing to aim for 16 dumplings and gave myself a little mental gold star when I hit the mark. Thanks for all of this inspiration.
My only tweaks were using demerara sugar instead of white, and white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. As if that could be what makes this a fortifying breakfast instead of a dessert.
should have used all purpose. should have used more sugar.
I made this last night and it was delicious! I made the recipe for two, so I cut the recipe in half – the only downside is no leftovers for breakfast this morning. I used half brown sugar and half regular sugar, and served it with vanilla ice cream instead of the heavy cream. It was so good super easy to prepare. Thanks Deb!
this looks great. i’m going to try it tongiht though as i am a sugar addict i might have to increase that just a bit. i’ve been making your strawberry/rhubarb pie (3 times this summer) and that is amazing. i would love it if you’d add a strawberry or a rhubarb muffin recipe to your collection. i’m trying to think of good fruit muffins for the kids and i am just not creative. i haven’t seen many of those, and maybe that’s because it’s sacrilege for fresh strawberries. and lastly, i love love your site — and your design is just amazing, and inspiring. tx.
Cherry — There is a strawberry-rhubarb pecan loaf linked at the end of the post (before the recipe) that can easily be made in muffin liners instead.
SLK, i think i know what kind of “cheese balls” you are referring to …. they’re called rasmalai and they’re one of my mom’s favorite indian dessert. and you’re probably right that they’d taste good with strawberries!
i love those teeny farmer’s market strawberries <3 especially when compared to my brother’s gigantic man hands, ha (i save teeny ones just for him)
I am 72 years old and I remember my grandmother making something like this using wild blackberries. I never attempted to make it myself but often remembered it and commented on it to friends. Thanks you so much. Blackberries will be in season here in a couple of weeks and I plan to use this as a basis to recreate my grandmother’s dish.
Okay..here’s what I did. I made this recipe except I used peaches with 1/2 cup sugar (I like it sweeter). I added 1 tbsp sugar to the dumpling dough (I like it sweeter, again). To serve, I put sliced berries in the bottom of everyones bowl and scooped the peach dumplings over them. I got the best of both worlds..stewed fruit, tender dumplings and fresh strawberries warmed through by the peaches. It was perfect! Thanks for presenting the dumpling recipe, it had been on my mind.
Hi there! I don’t know if you have heard of it, but I live in the Czech Republic, Central Europe, and what we do is to make dumplings with filling. Here they are traditional. I think the dough is the same, except for that we add an egg and a quater of kg of quark to make it lighter, but we roll the dought, cut it in circles, put the strawberry/apricot/blueberries in the middle and roll a ball (so the filling is inside). It’s nothing else for the filling needed. When cooked, it also comes up and we top it with amazing things like:
– grounded poppy seed with sugar and pour over it a spoon of melted butter
– my favourite: roasted breadcrumbs with sugar and butter
– dry gingerbread, grated, butter
– hard quark, grated, sugar, butter
– whipped cream and cinnamon
So you might get inspired for the next time :)
sk- that first image, with the heavy cream drizzling over the top of the dumplings…oh my! beautiful!
&
sibyla- tasty!!!
We made this for dessert tonight with a combo of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. We ended up with a pot of little blue balls, um dumplings, but they were so good we didn’t care that the color was off. Thanks for the great recipe!
Looks divine! I love “adapted wildly.” You went rogue.
Just made them tonight. Delish! Thanks for all of your inspirations!
sweet jesus. The pictures are so captivating.
Should I really be the 155th person to comment here? What’s the point? EXCEPT that I can’t help myself. I have never thought of this. I will be thinking of it far too often now.
These look delish – perfect for a summer day.
Oh my, this looks incredible and easy. I think a nice plop of vanilla ice cream would taste amazing here as well. My kids and I are off to do strawberry picking today and we may just come home and make this…yummy!
here in the northeast we would call this strawberry grunt
Is it worth being the 159th comment? Well, I’m going to anyway- this looks divine. I have the strawberries and will be making it tonight!
Strawberries are nice but I’m eating your BOOZY BAKED FRENCH TOAST right now.
I live in western NC, and strawberries are a bit past their prime already – there wasn’t a great crop this year due to too much rain. I saw this recipe on the Gourmet site and wanted to try it, but didn’t get a chance before the strawberries were gone. This morning, however, I made it with blueberries as part of a Father’s Day brunch for my husband. I used agave nectar in place of the sugar – I have a 2 1/2 year old son who has never eaten sugar and I wanted him to be able to eat this. It was so easy and so delicious. So delicious. I will definitely be making this over and over and over…
I have what seems like such a dumb question to me, but i can’t figure it out from the pictures. (also my only knowledge of dumplings is matzah balls, i made dumplings once but I don’t know how they were supposed to taste so I don’t know if they came out good or not) How do you serve this thing? The dumplings cook in the pot with the strawberries and then it seems to be in a porcelin dish but the dumplings still look intact as if they were baked in there? If the answer is, um, you move them with a freaking spoon, i apologize. but in the photo with the drizzled cream the dumplings are all red on the bottom and yellow on the top, and from the super soft dumplings i made once i just don’t know how i would move them upright from one dish to another. does any of this matter?
I made this last night… OH MY GOODNESS. So. Good. My strawberries were on the tart side (and I had a ton of them!), so I used 1/4 cup each of white & brown sugar, in addition to the lemon juice. Mmm, mmm, mmm! Next time, I think I’ll add a light grating of nutmeg to the dumplings, too. :)
Thanks for another winner!
Delish! This was a big hit at my dad’s early father’s day dinner. I agree, the amount of sugar in your recipe is just right – you can still taste the berries!
To Andrea (above) – yes, you drop in the dough to cook on top of the strawberries. Once they’re done just use a serving spoon to scoop out the dumplings along with the strawberries that are underneath them in the pot. If you are reasonably gentle about it, the dumplings stay upright. The dumplings are pretty firm when they’re done (about the texture of a cake doughnut), and the strawberries cook down to a pretty thick and stable sauce so serving isn’t all that messy or difficult. Does any of this matter? Well, I guess it just depends how picky you are about your presentation! They sure taste delicious, and that’s the main thing, right? :)
I don’t know if you’ll read this, WAY DOWN HERE… but thank you for this recipie. I made it for my dad today, and with some special touches, he loved it.
This was delicious with freshly picked strawberries! Great recipe!
I made this too and it was delicious, but it turned out more like strawberry soup. I made it with brown sugar and used low-fat buttermilk and a little cream (because that and low-fat milk were all I had at home) in the dumplings. The dumplings were perfect – surprisingly airy- and since this is the first time I ever made dumplings you know that means they’re easy. But the strawberries got juicy right after putting on the sugar and lemon juice, and after about 7 minutes they were swimming in liquid. That didn’t stop us from enjoying it, but it wasn’t as pretty as your version.
I blew it – how did I blow it? I used a medium sized Le Creuset pot. The strawberries cooked up just fine. I put the dumplings in. Had to cook it an extra 10 minutes, cause after 18 minutes they were still raw. But they still tasted like goo. Are they supposed to be cake-like? One thing I did *not* do that I now see upon re-reading the recipe: I did not push them down under the fruit. Maybe that’s where I blew it. Argh! Plus, the boyf said, “I don’t like warm strawberries” so only my best girlfriend and I ate it, but she left most of hers. Bummer! I’ll try it again, though. I love all your recipes Deb!!!! Kathryn
I also seemed to blow this recipe. My dumplings sank into the strawberries (rather than staying on top) and never puffed up (which resulted in them being destined for the garbage rather than the plate). The stawberries themselves, however, were perfect over vanilla ice cream.
I made this last night for father’s day but since my dad loves rhubarb and raspberries together I used those instead of strawberries…Delicious. We also used vanilla bean ice cream on top instead of cream. It was fantastic. Thanks Deb!
I made this with rhubarb instead of strawberries, a splash of vanilla instead of lemon juice, and about 1/3 cup sugar. Might have been on the tart side for normal people, but we loved it, and the dumplings were perfect! thanks!
Yes please! This looks delicious.
Hello Deb: I love your easy to whip up recipes. We are on a long vacation in Istanbul, and our apartment here is not equipped with an oven. So this was the perfect recipe for my guests today… I also had some market fresh strawberries on hand. I didn’t have 4 cups so I added some market fresh apricots and purple basil. The smell could have us killed :) Also my dough was a little more crumbly compared to yours at first. So your “dough picture” helped a lot. Maybe my flour was packed too much compared to yours… so I just added some more warm milk and the result was wonderful… I used to make Paula’s (food network) blueberry dumpling before.. but your dumplings are far better… Looking forward to try this recipe with blueberries, sour cherries and rasperry’s this summer… thanks again for “a perfect” recipe… and seasonal inspiration… ohh.. I served this warm with “sweet cream” ice cream…
Absolute perfection! Oh my goodness, these were so good. Dare I say I might try this with rhubarb and a splash more sugar. Ummmm…maybe even baking splenda (I am diabetic). I was really suprised at the dumpling mixture, it came together very well and formed perfect dumplings. I didnt have a small scoop, so I used a measuring tablespoon, that worked just great. I think next time I will cook the duimplings just a minute or two longer. I think my dumplings were a little bigger than yours–by choice. ;o)
I made this last night. . . although i messed the recipe up in every possible way (overcooked the strawberries, subbed whipping cream+ water for the milk, didn’t cook the dumplings long enough) I couldn’t have messed it up too bad cuz my husband loved it. it ended up being too juicy, so we put the syrup ontop of vanilla ice cream and it was awesome.
but serves 6? the two of us scarfed it all!
I made this 2 nights ago using boysenberries, since we have gazillions of them growing on our vines. The dumplings are OH SO GOOD. And so simple and easy to make! This recipe is such a keeper. Thank you! I had to make it again last night becasuse my family requested it again. I was happy to oblige :)
Omg that looks… mm yummi!!!! :D
I had something similar growing up. But we would steam the dumplings – they were yeast dumplings. And then dip them in a blueberry sauce. I haven’t made them in years but your post is pretty inspiring, so maybe I will!
Oh yum. This looks like the best thing ever. I have never *once* thought about making sweet fruity dumplings! I will have to remedy that very soon…
I made this today when my mother-in-law came over for lunch. It was fabulous! Absolutely perfect for some just picked strawberries and so easy!
oooh…this RULED tonight, made with strawbs and rhubarb. didn’t have milk so used half & half + water–this turned into the best dinner ever. thanks deb!
I made this with a combo of rhubarb and strawberries last night, very yummy. To give a extra oomph, added a tsp. of grated ginger to the rhubarb, and sugared the rhubarb and strawberries separately as I didn’t want the rhubarb to release too much moisture. I used one part strawberries to two parts rhubarb.
It was perfect! Great dumplings. And the next morning was an ace with Greek yogurt.
Oh my goodness, that looks super delicious; I need to make it!
I made this tonight after staring at it since it’s been posted. It has been declared amazing and my boyfriend says I must make it when strawberries are in season; always.
=)
oh my god, I made this last night and it was AMAZING. thank you! can’t wait to make this again, while strawberries are still in season!
Ok, I just made these with strawberries and blueberries (that’s what I had), and it was so good that two adults and a toddler finished them off. Yum!
What a great recipe/idea! I made a few adjustments based on ingredients in the house (mix of strawberries and raspberries and used buttermilk for the dumplings). What actually was a really fun addition though was basil to the berries. It was really subtle but was a nice addition. Thanks again!
Just made this for my mother for her birthday. Awesome recipe. Overall consensus from the family: “An idea I never would have had…strawberries and dumplings…but very very very good!” Might try again with rhubarb or other berries added.
I made this for breakfast today! It was awesome! I had no lemon juice and so used white vinegar, but lemon juice would have been better. My sister doesn’t like strawberries (gasp!) but she liked this. :D
Wowee! This looks irrestistable! It’s on the family menu this week!
I made this one tonight for my Official Eater (who I keep on staff to eat all the lovely baked stuff that I want to make but don’t want to eat for hip-width reasons) and added 200 grams of frozen raspberries to pad out the strawberries (250 grams for $6.50? NO THANKS!) and have to say it’s possibly the best dumpling recipe I’ve tried thus far.
you totally need to make marillenknödel, with strawberries! my oma made these for me and they are a-mazing. although i don’t have her recipe, here’s one that i have yet to try. that quark cheese just sounds darn hard to find and i admit i’ve been lazy. http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2009/07/nicole-stichs-marillenkn%C3%B6del-apricot-dumplings.html
the butter and breadcrumb “topping” with powdered sugar is divine.
This is fantastic. I never really understood the appeal of dumplings before but I couldn’t stop eating these and am thinking of making another batch already. It was great even substituting buttermilk and key lime juice, which were on hand, for the milk and lemon juice.
The sweet warm strawberries were divine, but I found the dumplings flavorless and just sortof gummy blobs. They were just done and not overcooked, but just flavorless. I was expecting the kind of bite I’m used to in buttermilk, I guess, and I think I’d sub for it in the future. Or more salt in the biscuit dough maybe?
Just made this tonight….I have always liked dumplings-ever since my dad would make chicken and dumplings with bisquick for me when I was sick. This was good…my husband is tucking into a bowl of it now-covered with greek yogurt.
hi! i was wondering if you thought this might work as a nice filling breakfast? thank you!!
I just tried this tonight, and wow, it was like eating jam! That might be why it says it serves 6! I’m not really familiar with dumplings but I don’t think mine came out right. They were chewy, leaving bits stuck all over the spoon as we ate, and never did look “dry” on top since the pot was full of steam. They also didn’t grow very much and were pretty much overwhelmed by the bubbling red juices – hardly any white color left when I served it, unlike your pretty pictures. Hm, I don’t know what went wrong. I did add a little extra lemon juice but other than that the recipe was as-written. Maybe my gas stove doesn’t turn down low enough? Could too-high heat mess up the recipe? The berries did look pretty active in their lowest-possible-heat “simmer.”
I’ll probably pour the rest over some ice cream or drizzle it on yogurt, and toss the dumplings. Oh, well. Maybe you have to grow up on chicken and dumplings to appreciate them (assuming they did come out the right consistency).
Next up for me: the Pink Lady Cake! (As soon as I get more berries!)
I had guests last saturday, and on a whim I decided to try this recipe out.. and it worked like magic. Seriously, I rocked my guest’s socks with these dumblings, who looked not very tasty and were polished off in a matter of seconds. Everybody yearned for more. I used half the recipe and served four. I cooked the dumplings in advance and then put the pot back on the stove for a few minutes, poured some cool vanilla sauce on top and had my guests beg for the recipe.
I dream of making this for christmas with plums and cinnamon, and even more vanilla sauce. Yummy!!
This recipe looked so original and fun that I had to try it. I made these last week and was really disappointed. The strawberries were fine, but the dumplings were bland and gummy. I should have made strawberry cobbler or your strawberry cake. This was a huge waste of my beautiful farmer’s market berries. Oh well. I guess I’m not a fan of dumplings.
That looks so delicious
It’s so much better to mould the dumpling batter around freshly marinated straweberries, lower them gently into water to cook them, then serve with thick sour cream.
I’m thinking about making this tonight for my sister’s bday cake and wondering if its possible to substitute almond meal — if so, how much do you expect you would need? thanks!!
Made these this morning with whole wheat flour for breakfast. Changed the taste of the dumplings quite a bit, but with some greek yogurt and honey alongside still a delicious recipe!
Popped on looking for strawberry/rhubarb inspiration. Looking GREAT! going to try this for myself for Mother’s Day, VERY excited. FOr those nay-sayers of dumplings I have this from America’s Test Kitchen – when cooking the dumplings over your steaming goodness, whatever that may be (sweet or savory) place a clean kitchen towel over the pot, large enough to DRAPE over, clearly so as not to have it in the soup, and then place your snug fitting lid over. The towel will take up the condensation that develops and keep your dumplings a little drier – not gummy. Thanks again for the delicious inspiration!
I made these this week for my sister and law & her family. Making them again for my husband. Absolutely amazing and so easy to make. :)
This made for a delicious spontaneous dessert. My husband and I are (blissfully) suffering from early-marriage weight-gain, which I blame entirely on recipes like this :)
Is it wrong that I made this for dinner tonight? If it is, I don’t want to be right. Was made even cozier, like you said Deb, with brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon in the dumplings. Here’s to funny sounding dinners…er…desserts. ;)
OMG! How did I JUST find this recipe…so much simpler than making strawberry shortcake…especially when I don’t dare turn on the oven in this heat. Will be making this for my parents this weekend…along with the horseradish potato salad. Simple and delish with fresh ingredients…yum! (Oh…did I mentioned I picked up 13 quarts of fresh Amish grown strawberries last weekend…can’t eat those leathery California strawberries anymore.)
Deb… I hope you can answer this question before Saturday…If I were to do this with a mix of strawberries and rhubarb, what ration should I use? (I have a rhubarb plant I need to use…what a sad story, I know.)
Joanna — I type RATION every time too! I would go half-half.
*ratio
I’ve been making these since summer 2010 – still a favorite! There’s no tastier or easier baked fruit dessert. I tried it with blueberries once but prefer the strawberries.
Hi, I LOVE this recipe! I also adore the photos of each page where there is a recipe. The photographs are wonderful, mouth-watering, and they make you want to make them right away(and then eat them of course):) What camera do you use???? So, I made the strawberries and dumplings, they were…
AMAZING!!!<3
Do we have to refrigerate the leftovers or leave them at room temperature overnight? Thank you very much!
Sofia — I prefer to refrigerate the leftovers so they keep longer. I don’t think it will go bad if just overnight on a counter, though. Pie, for instance, is fine at room temperature.
Made this as a treat for a group of teenage students who had to stay late to prepare for a theater performance. They all loved this! I was able to serve 14 people with this recipe, but each person got two dumplings and a bit of jam, just like those desserts-for-one/two-bite treats you can find.
This dish is all sorts of amazing and doesn’t need much tweaking. The strawberries are just perfectly sweet and the dumplings sit well on top. Serve this with cream, as suggested, but do consider doubling the recipe, because the serving sizes are small enough to leave you wanting just a bit more.
I have made these 3 times now and they are mind-blowingly delicious but I’ve had the same problem each time: the layer of fruit on the very bottom burns and I have to soak and scrub my pot for days. Ive tried 2 different pots, a Bain Marie, and tried stacking 2 burner-grates on top of each other to get the pot further away from the flame. Anyone else have this problem?!