Curd Cheese Dumplings

Curd cheese dumplings are a favourite sweet main dish of Hungarian cooking: soft, light dumplings rolled in buttery, toasted crumbs, with sour cream and icing sugar.

The dumplings

1. Pass the curd cheese through a fork or sieve so it is smooth, then mix it with the semolina, the egg, the flour and the salt.

2. Put the mixture in the fridge and rest it for at least 30 minutes, so the semolina swells – without this the dumplings fall apart.

3. With wet hands shape dumplings a little bigger than a walnut.

4. In a large pot bring plenty of lightly salted water to the boil, then turn it down; put the dumplings in gently, and cook them tender in simmering (not boiling) water in 12-15 minutes – at the end they rise to the surface.

The coating

5. Meanwhile melt the butter in a pan, scatter in the breadcrumbs, and fry them golden, stirring.

6. Turn the cooked, drained dumplings in the toasted crumbs.

7. When serving, offer sour cream alongside, and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Tip: Resting the mixture is the most important step – skip it and the dumplings fall apart during cooking.