German Steamed Dumplings With Blueberry Sauce

Author Notes

This recipe has been passed down in my family for at least four generations. My great grandmother brought over this recipe when she immigrated from a village in Germany to New Jersey in 1923. My mother was the first generation to actually write it down—until then it was taught from mother to daughter and made from memory. The dumplings are hot, light, fluffy balls of dough, similar to Chinese steam buns, and the blueberry sauce is sweet and tart.
The dumplings should be hot and the sauce cool. I have never had anything like these anywhere. To me, they are totally unique. I have many treasured childhood summer memories of waking up early in the morning to make the dough, letting it rise in the sun in the backyard, and devouring oodles of steam dumplings and blueberry sauce for lunch.
The recipe takes time, but it is not difficult, and it is well worth the investment of a few hours. Once you've tasted it, you will spend the time you are waiting for the dough to rise fantasizing about eating them. You can pour the cool blueberry sauce over the hot dumplings, or you can do what I did as a little girl and poke a hole in them with a spoon, stuff them each with a spoonful of blueberry sauce, and then pour more blueberry sauce on top. - clintonhillbilly —clintonhillbilly

Test Kitchen Notes

This was delicious. The dumplings are super light and spongy and just soak up the sauce, very yummy. The texture was a bit like steamed sponge cake, even though it calls for much less egg. I'd recommend pouring a little bit of sauce at a time, clintonhillbilly is right that hot dumplings and cold sauce are a terrific contrast, but if you douse them with sauce the dumplings cool off too fast. I'll definitely make this again, maybe with other berries or fruit. - Arathi —The Editors