These Plum Dumplings are a traditional Romanian dessert. Delicious plums are wrapped in a potato dough and covered in sweet buttery bread crumbs.
I’m so happy to share with you another one of my childhood favorite Romanian recipes. These plum dumplings, or “Galuste cu prune” as we call them in Romanian, are such a great treat. Not only are they Romanian, but I believe they are an Eastern Europe favorite.
I remember this was, and still is one of my mom’s favorite desserts, because she simply loves plums, so this is a dessert that she actually made for us. She is not one to make desserts, but these plum dumplings is one of those rare things she did make for us, and I’m so glad she did, because here I am sharing this wonderful recipe with you.
What are plum dumplings?
As I said, this is one of those unique “desserts”, if you will, that you see popping up all over Eastern and Central Europe. We’re creating a dough similar to gnocchi and wrapping that dough around perfectly sweet plums. You then boil the dumplings then roll them through a sweet buttery breadcrumb mixture. They are traditionally served with a good dollop of sour cream and will be gobbled down before you can say boo.
If you’re looking to try out a recipe that is a little adventurous, or connect with your European roots, this recipe is what you’ve been looking for! It’s simple and completely drool worthy, so let’s get into it.
Ingredient Notes
- Plums – Pitted and halved. If your plums are massive feel free to quarter them. Some people will actually make these with a whole plum, but it totally depends how big they are.
- Sugar – We’re using both powdered sugar and regular old granulated sugar today. If you don’t have powdered sugar available regular sugar will work in its place. We just need some sugar to sweet the tart plums.
- Potatoes – I love using Yukon gold potatoes in this recipe, we want something that mashes well and isn’t too waxy.
- Butter – I always use unsalted, but if you only have salted, just omit the salt in this recipe.
- Breadcrumbs – Finely ground plain breadcrumbs is what you’re looking for, make sure to not use the seasoned ones. If you only have Panko breadcrumbs, I would pulse them a few times in a food processor to turn them into finer crumbs.
- Eggs – 2 eggs to act as the binder in our little dumpling dough.
- Flour – All purpose works just fine for this recipe.
- Semolina – This is the coarse flour made from durum wheat that is commonly used in pasta. If you can’t get your hands on any you can always substitute it with equal amounts of all purpose flour but it may result in a softer, less workable dough.
How to make plum dumplings
- Prep the plums: Wash the plumbs and pat them dry. Cut them in half and remove the pits. Place the plum halves in a bowl and sprinkle them with the icing sugar. Toss and set aside.
- Cook the potatoes: Wash and scrub the potatoes and cook them whole with skin on, in boiling water until fork tender. Depending on the size of the potatoes, this could take 40 to 60 minutes. Drain and let them cool.
- Prepare the breadcrumb mixture: Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the breadcrumbs and brown for a few minutes over low heat, until the breadcrumbs start to turn golden brown. in a non-stick frying pan melt butter then add the breadcrumbs and brown it on low heat. Stir in the granulated sugar and let it cool completely. Set aside.
- Make the dough: Once the potatoes have cooled enough to work with them, remove the skin, it should easily come off. Using a box grater, finely shred the potatoes into a bowl. To the same bowl (make sure potatoes have completely cooled), add the eggs, salt, flour, semolina and mix using a wooden spoon. The dough will be very sticky but homogeneous. In case your dough is too wet you could add a a tbsp of flour and a tbsp of wheat semolina but no more.
- Boil water: Add water to a medium size pot and bring to a boil over high heat; when water start to boil add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to it.
Assemble the dumplings
- Form the dumplings: With your hands slightly wet, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Using your hands, flatten each piece so that it’s about ¼ of an inch in thickness. In the center of each piece, place half a plum, then seal it and shape it into a ball. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
- Cook the dumplings: Place the dumplings into the pot with boiling water, 3-4 at a time, and cook them until they rise to the surface. Using a slotted spoon, take them out and place them directly into the skillet with the breadcrumbs mixture. Roll them around to make sure they are perfectly coated all around. Repeat with remaining dumplings.
- Serve when completely cooled!
Using unripe plums?
No problem! If that’s the case then stuff the plums with sugar after it’s been pitted before wrapping it in dough. If you’d really like to kick it up a notch then take sugar cubes, dip them in some dark rum and stuff them in the plums. This step is a must if your plums aren’t sweet enough.
Make sure your potatoes are fresh!
You can’t use leftover mashed potatoes for this recipe – sorry for the bad news! Mashed potatoes are usually packed full of cream, salt, pepper, even chives occasionally. We want just some plain old potato, mashed up, similar to a gnocchi.
Tools you’ll need
This recipe has a long list of instructions but it’s actually very simple! All you need is:
- A potato masher, ricer or just a box grater
- A large pot
- Slotted spoon
- A skillet
And that’s it! I know for sure you have these lying around, just begging to be used.
How to serve
These plum dumplings are a picture perfect dessert, side dish, appetizer, or even a vegetarian main, depending on how much you eat and how sweet you like your meals. I like to snack on these all on their own but they’re also perfect with some sour cream or a steaming mug of coffee, prepared in whichever style you prefer.
Leftovers
Store these plum dumplings in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap right in the fridge. They will keep for up to 5 days this way!
Freezing
I don’t recommend freezing uncooked plum dumplings, because they may fall apart. Fully cook the dumplings in the boiling water before spacing them out on a baking sheet and popping them in the freezer for an hour. Remove them from the baking sheet and place in a large freezer bag and these bad boys will keep for up to a month stored in the freezer.
Just remove them from the bag and pop them in boiling water for up to 15 minutes before coating them in the bread crumbs. Delish!
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Plum Dumplings (Galuste cu Prune)
Ingredients
- 6 plums pitted and halved
- 3 tablespoon icing sugar same as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar
- 1 1/2 pounds potatoes I used Yukon gold
- 3 tablespoon butter unsalted
- 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs plain
- 6 tablespoon sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour (1/8 cup is 2 tbsp)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup wheat semolina
Instructions
- Prep the plums: Wash the plumbs and pat them dry. Cut them in half and remove the pits. Place the plum halves in a bowl and sprinkle them with the icing sugar. Toss and set aside.
- Cook the potatoes: Wash and scrub the potatoes and cook them whole with skin on, in boiling water until fork tender. Depending on the size of the potatoes, this could take 40 to 60 minutes. Drain and let them cool.
- Prepare the breadcrumb mixture: Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the breadcrumbs and brown for a few minutes over low heat, until the breadcrumbs start to turn golden brown. in a non-stick frying pan melt butter then add the breadcrumbs and brown it on low heat. Stir in the granulated sugar and let it cool completely. Set aside.
- Make the dough: Once the potatoes have cooled enough to work with them, remove the skin, it should easily come off. Using a box grater, finely shred the potatoes into a bowl. To the same bowl (make sure potatoes have completely cooled), add the eggs, salt, flour, semolina and mix using a wooden spoon. The dough will be very sticky but homogeneous. In case your dough is too wet you could add a a tbsp of flour and a tbsp of wheat semolina but no more.
- Boil water: Add water to a medium size pot and bring to a boil over high heat; when water start to boil add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to it.
- Form the dumplings: With your hands slightly wet, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Using your hands, flatten each piece so that it's about ¼ of an inch in thickness. In the center of each piece, place half a plum, then seal it and shape it into a ball. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
- Cook the dumplings: Place the dumplings into the pot with boiling water, 3-4 at a time, and cook them until they rise to the surface. Using a slotted spoon, take them out and place them directly into the skillet with the breadcrumbs mixture. Roll them around to make sure they are perfectly coated all around. Repeat with remaining dumplings.
- Serve: Serve when completely cooled!
Recipe Notes
- To easily peel the cooked potatoes, run cold water over them. Simply use your nails and fingers to peel off the cooked skin.
- Store these plum dumplings in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap right in the fridge. They will keep for up to 5 days this way!
Jo (is this Ioana in Romanian?), thank you for a memory of family meals!
Draga Jo, amu ca am scris si in engleza, termin in romana. Sa ai toate sarbatorile cu casa plina de oameni buni, cu sufletul linistit si masa plina de bunatati.
Da, ai ghicit. Multumesc, iti doresc si tie la fel. 🙂
Anna, I learned a similar recipe from my mother, borne and raised in Transilvania (Ardeal, as we call it). One of the secrets is to work the potatoes as little as possible. I found that a potato ricer is best. And have all ingredients in before you start mixing. However, it will never be a fixed amounts recipe. As my Mom says: it may be the potatoes, it may be eggs, it may be how humid the air is in the kitchen or the phase of the moon! We sprinkle sugar and cinnamon in the plums (after removing the pit). Jo made the instructions so clear and the result is so delicious that I would suggest you give it another try. Oh, and they go great with vanilla ice cream (never say that to a transilvanian!).
The dough was very wet and messy even I added two extra tablespoons of flour. I ended up putting it in the refrigerator for half hour to stiffen up and that helped. I also used a bench scraper to gather it all up and work it around the plum.
BUT the taste and texture were AMAZING! My sister and brother in law loved them and took all the leftovers (which was not much) home!
That’s great that everyone loved them so much.
Thank you for the recipe!
The dough was impossibly sticky. I had to add like 2x the amount of flour listed to make this work, otherwise there was just no way to cover the plums.
I don’t know if it was because I used the wrong type of potatoes, or because I cooked them for too long.
Still, it scratched an itch I had, as this is a recipe from my childhood. They turned out pretty good, it just took way longer and made a huge mess in the kitchen.
Draga Oana, too bad plum season is over. Try the recipe next fall, just work the potatoes as little as possible. And use the “starchiest” variety you could find. In Romania I think we use “sapunari”, I don’t know what Jo would advise, but maybe start with one egg? My mom always says this is a lottery recipe. It can be the batch of potatoes, the size and “age” of eggs, how humid is in the kitchen…And we start with “No, amu Doamne ajuta!” If you find a dry plum preserve (“magiun” would work) try again?
brilliant recipe, it takes me back to Hungary. My grandmother would fill it with either plums or apricots and the sugar cube was mandatory in the middle. The plum version also got a sprinkle of cinnamon. Yumm. I don’t think this is a romanian recipe, rather a recipe of the region that spans approx from Austria to Romania across and from Poland to Croatia vertically. I felt this was important to know for a foodie site. 🙂 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knedle
OMG this looks amazing, and one of the few things i can do in my very limited kitchen in South Korea….. but we are just out of plum season 🙁
My parents and grandparents were croation/hungarian and my mum used to make this for us growing up, its was one of my favorite recipes and I still make them to this day, I use plum povidl which is a european plum jam that is smooth and delicious, if you cant find it you can make it with prunes, I will try this recipe soon:)
I love it when you post eastern european recipes, takes me back
This is a wonderful desert, that my grandma used to make many years ago. At that time it seemed to me (as a child) quite tedious, but I used to help by preparing the plums. One thing we did slightly differently was to add between the two plum halves granulated sugar mixed with ground cinnamon, then add both halves within each dumpling. Delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So glad you liked it!
Hi Jo,
The plum dumplings are a treat my ex husband loved as a child. His mom made them (they were displaced citizens from Romania) came here in 1956.
Long and short is he’s in DE and I’m in N.C. He is going through chemo and I thought the dumplings might cheer him up some. Do you they would keep if I shipped them with dry ice?
Thank you for any suggestions on this.
Linda
That’s very sweet of you! I’m sure he’ll touched by a treat like these. I would suggest doing some research online for safely mailing food items to make sure it goes seamlessly.
These are fantastic! Definitely not something many people have had, so it was a terrific surprise but not hard….just looks it. Thank you so much for posting. Love the Romanian recipes as not many people have had the food but it is such a great from the heart cuisine.
So glad you like these, Rebecca!
I gained 10 lbs just by reading your delicious recipes. Can’t wait to
try all of them, especialy the Romanian ones 🙂
Thank you for sharing with us.
You’re so welcome. If you do try them I’d love to hear your thoughts. 🙂