Sweet Farmer's Cheese Filled Dumplings
Delicate dumplings filled with soft farmer’s cheese, plump raisins, and just a hint of sweetness—this nostalgic Lithuanian classic is the ultimate comfort dsih. Serve them warm with sour cream, powdered sugar, or a spoonful of berry coulis for a treat that’s simple, soulful, and deeply satisfying.
Ingredients
- 200 g (1⅗ cups) all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting surfaces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg large
- 60 ml water
Farmer's Cheese Filling:
- 275 g (9oz) farmer's cheese
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste optional
- 30 g (2 heaped tbsp) sultanas or raisins roughly chopped
Instructions
The Dough
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in the middle.
- Pour the water and egg into the well in your dry ingredients, and run the mixer on medium speed for 8-10 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in a piece of plastic wrap, and leave the dough to rest for 10-20 minutes at room temperature.
Farmer's Cheese Filling
- In the meantime, prepare the filling. Mash the farmer's cheese well with a fork or a potato masher. If your farmer's cheese is very dry and have large curds, you may want to blitz it with a hand blender or push it through a fine mesh sieve.
- Add the sugar, salt, egg yolk, vanilla and sultanas or raisins. Mix everything well. Place the filling in the fridge to firm up, whilst you roll the dough.
Assembly and Cooking
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out into a thin sheet (about 2mm thick) - it's easier to work with portions of the dough at a time.
- Using a 2-inch (5cm) cookie cutter or a thin-rimmed glass, stamp out circles in the rolled out dough.
- Add a teaspoon of farmer's cheese filling on each dough circle.
- Wet the edge of each circle with water, then fold it over to create half-moon shaped dumplings, pressing the edges together to seal in the edges. You may press the edges together with a fork.
- Place the filled dumplings on a floured surface or a board, as you go through the rest of the dough and filling.
- Boil a large pot of water.
- Drop the dumplings into the pan and cook on medium heat until they float up to the surface. Then reduce the heat to low and carry on cooking for another 3-4 minutes.
- Serve with sour cream and a dusting of powdered sugar, or berry coulis.