Kynute Knedliky (Fruit Dumplings)
By Monica on September 4th, 2008
One of the many lessons I learned as a child in my Babi’s kitchen is that combining dinner and dessert into one meal is not only acceptable, but practical! This was my favorite meal to eat on hot summer nights when fresh fruits were available by the bushel. Summer is quickly leaving the Midwest behind, so last week was fruit dumpling time.
I prefer mine drizzled with a bit of melted EB and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Some people also add cottage cheese, or even cocoa - but this is perfection to me. I also don’t like my dough quite as raised or fluffy as some, I find the dough sticks together better this way and there are less ‘leakers’ in the pot.
This batch consisted of nectarines, plums, peaches, and a rogue blueberry fruit dumpling I made just to use up extra dough. The specks you see in the dough are flax meal, I’ve used Ener-G egg replacer too, either works just fine.
Kynute Knedliky
1/2 cup soymilk, warmed and divided
1t granular yeast
1T + 1t sugar, divided
1 flax meal ‘egg’
1 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt
1T melted EB
~5 fruits of your choice, halved
Toppings of your choice
Dissolve yeast into 1/4 cup of the warmed soymilk, add the 1t sugar.
Sift flour, 1T sugar, and salt together. Add the yeast mixture, flax egg and melted margarine. Slowly add just enough of the remaining milk to make a fairly stiff dough. Let rise 1/2 an hour.
On a lightly floured surface, cut dough into approximately 10 pieces and flatten each into a circle.
Place one half of a fruit into the center and seal dough around the fruit.
Drop sealed dumplings into a large pot of boiling water and cook uncovered for 5 minutes on one side, then flip dumpling and cook for 5 minutes more.
Remove from water and let water drain for a few minutes, poke each with a knife to allow steam to escape if necessary.
Sprinkle with your choice of yummy goodness and enjoy!
In addition to fruit dumpling time, I probably don’t have to mention that it’s corn time in Illinois. Each year one of our local farm families plants a free patch of sweet corn for everyone - which gives us all the free corn we want, and also an excuse to act like boobs in the corn fields, reenacting scenes from old horror movies. Can you spot the Ray?
This year while we were out there acting like boobs, I thought you might want to see what I consider to be the coolest feature of our corn:
Rising out of the corn there you’ll see a 214 foot wind turbine, one of 63 in Illinois’ first utility scale wind farm that operates in my immediate neighborhood. This farm produces enough energy to power 13,000 homes!
I am an enormous fan of these turbines, though not everyone in the area is. There are frequent complaints from some residents with antediluvian concerns about aesthetics, noise, land values, and ‘loss of farming community’. I do hope those same people are still alive when a bona fide oil crisis hits the US to see if they change their minds…
Call me crazy, but I think they add stunning beauty to an otherwise flat, brown, mundane landscape. Watching all of them turning - generating clean, renewable energy - is nothing short of awesome, especially from up close! Here’s a very quick video we shot from the corn:
ChocolateCoveredVegan says:
Your Babi is one smart (vegan) cookie! Of course dinner and dessert together is a winning idea :o).
And lol, all your windmill pictures made me laugh, due to the following coincidence: I am reading Don Quijote in my Spanish class, and today’s readings include the famous “windmill” episode!
September 4th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Amy says:
Free sweet corn?! You lucky girl! And, I agree with you, wind turbines are really beautiful. I remember seeing one being transported down the highway, and it was so big that each blade had it’s own truck to transport it.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Animal-Friendly says:
Yummy! Those fruit dumplings looks so easy but even more delicious! They seem like the perfect dish to transition from summer to fall (since fall-ish weather is already here in Illinois…)
September 4th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Cakespy says:
Those dumplings are driving me crazy. I’ll bet they’re crazy delicious–and I am having a fall moment of envy…I love the open air and windmills…
September 4th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Vegyogini says:
What a fantastic way to cook with fruit! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m with you on the wind turbines; I love seeing them because they bring me hope for a less fuel-dependent future.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Shellyfish says:
Combining dinner & dessert is just a splended idea! I really want to try this!
I agree with you, we have lots of these wind turbines here and there and I think they are so beautiful - they remind me of storks. I also hope all these naysayers are around when we have no choice…it’s so frustrating!
September 5th, 2008 at 1:27 am
celine says:
these fruit dumplings are utter genius. and look the part too.
September 5th, 2008 at 2:44 am
Virginia says:
I could see myself eating those fruit dumplings for breakfast..and using wind power is awesome!
September 5th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Mihl says:
These knedliky are awesome! I am a big fan of those whole fruits in there.
By the way, I am a huge fan of those wind turbines, too. We have a lot of them in many areas in Germany and I hope that one day people in my country will realize that we are able to rely fully on sustainable energy sources and don’t need no oil *sorry for rant*.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:00 am
VeggieGirl says:
Wow, the Kynute Knedliky looks AMAZING!!! So scrumptious.
Gorgeous cornfields!!
September 5th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Jennifer says:
These look fantastic, and I am sad about the departure of summer from the Midwest myself.
That is really neat about the corn. I love the horror movie picture.
When we were driving to Peoria for Thanksgiving last year, we had to pull off the road to go look at one of the large windmills. Pretty cool, and they are so quiet!
September 5th, 2008 at 8:02 am
jessy says:
i have never even heard of fruit dumplings and i’m really sadfaced that i’ve missed out on them all these years. i think i lived under a rock or something, Monica! eek! but now i’m superhappyfaced because you gave me your glorious recipe so i can make some, too! sweet awesomeness! yay!
i think the wind turbine is really awesome looking, too. to me, it breaks up the landscape in a neat way - i quite like it. i really love the picture with the wind turbine peaking out over the corn! i wish we had wind turbines!
fruit dumplings - yay!
September 5th, 2008 at 9:16 am
mmg says:
OH my god those dumplings look phenomenal! I must have some NOW!
We have those turbines in my hometown area too in rural ND. I love them. I think they’re pretty and mesmerizing!
September 5th, 2008 at 9:23 am
thedalyn says:
I grew up in California and I’ve always loved the sight of those turbines. Too bad they wreak havoc on several species.
But those dumplings look great!
September 5th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Nikki says:
I too love the site of the turbines, they are much more comforting than oil rigs! With all the wind in many parts of the country, those would produce more energy than most realize. My only concern is what thedalyn said, that is wreaks havoc on birds!! I wish there was a way to correct that. But hey, there is always solar power that anyone anywhere can have if only they would make them cheaper (like say, the government investing in them…hmmm there is a thought!).
September 5th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Lisa (Show Me Vegan) says:
These dumplings look delicious and so colorful! A question about “flax meal eggs” - I was trying this out for veggie burgers the other day. I whisked 1 Tbs ground flax seeds with 3 Tbs water with a fork and it didn’t really seem to combine. It just looked like meal floating in water. I expected it to become more viscous or something. Any advice on what the “flax egg” should look like?
September 6th, 2008 at 12:28 am
vegancowgirl says:
I love that recipe! It seems so easy, and the results look so amazingly yummy. Thanks, thanks, thanks!
September 6th, 2008 at 2:43 am
Lisa (Show Me Vegan) says:
Thanks for the tip on my blog about the flax egg! I’ll try again. I’m using the same brand as you so I probably just need to give it a minute to sit.
September 6th, 2008 at 7:12 am
alaina says:
i’ve never heard of fruit dumplings before. they look so delicious and easy!
September 6th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Monika K says:
What a devilishly delicious idea for fruit. I only wish plums/nectarines etc were so accessible here. Oh, well, I’ll just drool all over your pics!
September 6th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Mad About Udon says:
Yum! Those would make a great potluck contribution for dessert.
September 6th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Veggie says:
I’m a huge fan of wind farms, I wish people would stop complaining about them (and start complaining about polluting energy sources instead).
The fruit dumplings look so good, i`ll have to try that maybe in about a month when I end up with half a bag of apples going bad in the fridge.
September 7th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Liz² says:
beautiful, those turbines… elegant and everything, and your video is, too.
and I’ve been having a hard time working up an appetite for much tonight, but those dumplings sound mighty good, actually. yum!
September 7th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
vegetalion says:
Those dumplings are adorable!
I love windmills, too - back in my hometown (in upstate NY) there’s a lot of controversy about how if they build them there, the views will be ruined - but I think they CONTRIBUTE to the view!
September 8th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Teddy says:
your fruit dumplings are great! I’m curious.. how loud are those turbines??
do even hear them?
September 9th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
VKO-Lifestyles of the Chic & Vegan says:
Those fruit dumplings look delectable. I love corn and I love dumplings and I buy 100% wind energy so this of course was a perfect post!
September 17th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Tori says:
Ha! Loss of farming land! I can think of other things (corn) that the land would be lost to due to an oil crisis….
My brother wants to buy a cheap smaller one, put a generator on it and have it power our house. But we live in discusting suburbia with laws that would never allow that.
Your treats looks scrumptious by the way!
September 18th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Melisser says:
WHOA, those dumplings sound awesome! Dessert / dinner sounds good to me! Free corn is awesome. I didn’t get nearly enough corn this season.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Amey says:
Wow! What a great post…
The dumplings are so beautiful, and so tasty looking. I love the idea of just popping an entire chunk of fruit in there. MMMM.
Also, the corn field and wind turbine pictures are totally amazing. Makes me want to come visit Illinois! Thanks for sharing.
September 21st, 2008 at 9:51 am
Kelly says:
Those look delicious. Yum. I grew up in Minnesota in a suburban area that had tons of corn fields so it is now weird to live in MA without corn stands everywhere.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Cassie says:
I’ve never had anything like these dumplings before. They look fantastic! Gotta give this a try.
September 25th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Jess - The Domestic Vegan says:
Holy yum!! Those fruit dumplings look FANTASTIC! I have never thought of doing a sweet dumpling; only savory. I must make these!!
September 28th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
jellybean says:
I am a true believer in the wind turbines!
That corn field is amazing! Which reminds me that Hooray , Halloween is coming up!
October 1st, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Monika K says:
Just stopping by to say hello. Hope all is well!
October 7th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Billy says:
You’ve been tagged!
What’s in Your (Vegan) Freezer?
BTW, I love windmills as well. We need more here on PEI.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:41 am
SoySusu says:
Vypadaji chutne
I like them most with strawberries and cinnamon, yummy
November 2nd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Kara says:
OMG That looks so good. What is a flax egg and EB?
November 14th, 2008 at 7:01 pm