Attempt at Plum Vareniki

A few weeks back I was surprised to find Italian Prune Plums at Costco; they're normally not out until August. The plums looked pretty good so I bought some so that I could make my mother's German Plum Cake w/Struesel. I quartered too many plums and thought, "what can I do with the rest of these plums?" I decided that I should try to make plum perogies. I was a participant in Dumpling Fest back in June and brought along a book that I found in my local library called "A World of Dumplings" by Brian Yarvin. The book is fabulous, so I bought a copy. The plum perogies called for whole plums that are filled with a cinnamon-sugar mixer. Since mine were already cut and also a bit soft, that wasn't going to work. There was a recipe in the book for Plum Vareniki which used cooked prunes. I decided to cook the plums into a jam. I added some sugar, cinnamon and a bit of lemon juice to brighten the flavor. Here's how it went:

Rolled out the dough and cut it into circles:



Put the dough in a dumpling press and put a bit of the jam on one half:



The Vareniki's are ready to be cooked:



Simmered for a good 10 minutes or so:



I decided to try them with a little vanilla yogurt:



An view inside:



They turned out O.K. They could have cooked a bit longer. I think the dough could have been thinner, but I don't have a pasta machine and was rolling by hand. I froze them and I'm hoping that they'll be better when I boil them a second time. All in all, not too bad for my first attempt.

My wife is Ukrainian and her mother makes amazing varenyky-cabbage, potato, meat, and fruit. I spent some time years ago watching her secrets and this is the recipe I came up with. She didn't use a pasta machine and was able to form and close them very quickly-each one looking perfect. Mine were ugly and i ended up using a plastic mold-similar to one used for ravioli.

Dough: 3 cups flour, 1 1/4 cups water, 2 small eggs, and 1/8 tsp. yeast added to food processor till it forms a ball. Roll out the dough with flour till 1/4 inch thick. Cut in circles, dipping cutter in flour. Add the filling and form varenyky, using a bit of water to paste them shut. She boiled her varenyky, as opposed to simmering them.

She made cherry and plum fruit varenyky, cutting the cherries in half and the plums in pieces. To 1 pint of fruit she added 3 teaspoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. These would be served with sour cream and extra sugar as desired.

HI,

When I dress these dumplings, I use sour cream, sugar and some vanilla.

This may also be the time for apricot vereniki.

Regards,

Very nice. I would prefer them fried in butter and browned alittle more like pierogi.

RevrendAndy wrote:Dough: 3 cups flour, 1 1/4 cups water, 2 small eggs, and 1/8 tsp. yeast added to food processor till it forms a ball. Roll out the dough with flour till 1/4 inch thick. Cut in circles, dipping cutter in flour. Add the filling and form varenyky, using a bit of water to paste them shut. She boiled her varenyky, as opposed to simmering them.

Interesting addition of yeast there. I've never come across it in these sorts of dumpling recipes, although I have never specifically made vareniki. Is it typical for vareniki, or is this one of grandma's secret ingredients? So does the yeast cause them to lighten up and puff up a bit? Do you need to rest the dough at all before cutting it out to let the yeast do its thing, or is the addition of the dumplings to the boiling water enough to just give them an extra lift?

Binko,

I don't know if it's typical. She let the dough rest for a bit and it probably does lighten them up. Hers weren't heavy or doughy.

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

When I dress these dumplings, I use sour cream, sugar and some vanilla.

This may also be the time for apricot vereniki.

Regards,

I would have used sour cream as well, but my fridge was a bit bare since I was leaving for vacation. The apricot vareniki sound like a very good idea.

toria wrote:Very nice. I would prefer them fried in butter and browned alittle more like pierogi.

Thanks. I like my pierogi fried as well. I was following the recipe (well sort of) this time. But I may do that next time.

Ms. Ingie wrote:

toria wrote:Very nice. I would prefer them fried in butter and browned alittle more like pierogi.

Thanks. I like my pierogi fried as well. I was following the recipe (well sort of) this time. But I may do that next time.

Vareniki are traditionally boiled and not fried anyway - the "var" is the same as in samovar ("self-boiler"). They look beautiful.

Santander wrote:

Ms. Ingie wrote:

toria wrote:Very nice. I would prefer them fried in butter and browned alittle more like pierogi.

Thanks. I like my pierogi fried as well. I was following the recipe (well sort of) this time. But I may do that next time.

Vareniki are traditionally boiled and not fried anyway - the "var" is the same as in samovar ("self-boiler"). They look beautiful.

Thanks. Yes, I boiled them as stated in the recipe. It is the pierogi that I like browned in butter. My sister brought me some potato and cheese pierogi and blueberry pierogi today from Delightful Pastry. Can't wait to eat them, but then I'll have to try and make some myself.