Kroppkakor - potato dumplings
Another traditional Swedish dish! It can't be made during the summer, when there's only new potatoes - they won't hold together, and will just become a gluey mass. (Trust me, I know this from first-hand experience. Sigh.) A kroppkaka is quite simply a large potato dumpling filled with bacon and onions. (Although it translates a bit scarily into "body cake".)
It's slightly different depending on where in the country you are but I grew up with my grandmother's version, and those kroppkakor were always white - made from mashed boiled potatoes. Some people prefer grey kroppkakor, made with half raw potatoes. You can eat these with lingonberries and melted butter, or with a white sauce flavored with allspice. I prefer the sauce. And extra filling on the side, please!
Kroppkakor
From Stora Kokboken ("The big cookbook", a Swedish classic)
8-10 large potatoes (750g-1 kg)
1 egg yolk
150-200 ml flour
salt
For the filling:
100 g bacon or pancetta (ideally salted, but unsmoked, pork.)
100 g smoked ham
1-2 tbsp minced yellow onion
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2-1 tsp allspice
Peel the potatoes and cut into smaller pieces. Boil until soft, drain the water and let the potatoes dry. Press through a potato ricer into a large bowl, and wait until it's completely cold.
Cut the bacon and the ham into small dice. Fry the onion and the meat in the butter until lightly browned. Season with allspice, and let cool completely.
Mix together the riced potatoes, the flour and the egg yolk, and a bit of salt. The dough should be well mixed and easy to handle. Roll into a sausage-shape, and cut into even pieces. Each dumpling should be between a golf ball and a tennis ball in size - fairly large. This recipe makes about 12.
Roll each piece into a round, and make a hole with your thumb. Fill with plenty of filing, and close the hole. Roll again so you get a nice, even dumpling, and flatten it slightly.
Boil the dumplings in plenty of boiling, salted water, a few at a time. They need about five minutes on each side. Serve with melted butter, lingonberries or sauce béchamel with allspice.
Recipe in Swedish:
Kroppkakor
posted by Anne at 15:41
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15 Comments:
I would like to make it but I wonder if it would taste rather heavy. What do you think? Is it a light or a heavy dish?
Anna
They are rather heavy. They have quite alot in common, except the filling, with italian potato gnocchi and german kloss/knödel. Kloss on the other hand is with filling and those are heavy.
With german roots I find grey kloss and kroppkakor appalling so I always boil the potatoes first.
I really like these but did not grow up with them at all. My first experience from dumplings was in Germany and Austria. Nowadays I make my own gnocci once in a while.
Our "version" of potatoe cakes (potatisbullar) was fried ones without filling and raggmunk of course. Also with lingonberries and fried ham, bacon or something like it.
I like kroppkakor but prefer them with raw potatoes, and I also prefer them day no 2 when you split them in halves and fry them to reheat them. In my family we eat them with lingonberries and kaffegrädde, a kind of lowfat cream, we also get extra filling on the side...
Bechamel with allspice is new to me, but most people never heard of cream either
This is fantastic. I was reading your blog when my boyfriend from England peaked over my shoulder and went.. 'oh, maybe we should try those?'
I never thought he'd say that. I've been thinking about making them for quite some time but didn't think he'd like them (or even the idea of them).
This I'm gonna try. No doubt about it. Maybe not right now, but in a not to distant future.
Looks great! but I'll use "Kryddpeppar" for the taste I was brought up with.
Anonymous, like Jessica says, it's quite heavy. I certainly wouldn't characterize it as light. :)
Jessica, thanks for explaining!
Kinna, interesting! I've never made gnocchi myself, but it's on my new year's resolution list so I really should get to it soon :)
Karin - I've never had leftovers! I need to make sure I do, because fried up sounds good too! And with cream - hey, I'm sure that works out nicely.
Dilona - hope you both like them! :)
Jorma - kryddpeppar is exactly what I use, it's just called allspice in English :)
This is definitely going on my list of things to try. Sounds like something my husband would really like (me too).
Jag hittade din blog och vilken tur! Jag som alskar att laga mat, bor i USA, men ar fran Sverige, vilka roliga recept du har, har du hittat pa manga sjalv eller soker du online? Jag brukar titta pa Food network i USA for recept..
Hej Nicke! Välkommen :) Jag får inspiration från alla möjliga ställen, men oftare tidningar och böcker än online. Allt jag skriver om har jag lagat, och oftast är det "egna" recept. (Annars står det alltid var de kommer ifrån.) Food Network önskar jag att vi hade här med, men näää.
I love these. They might be something that is considered an acquired taste. My Mother made them with grated raw
potatoes,(squeeze out excess liquid), salt pork, and allspice. Also good the next day sliced, fried in butter, and topped with a little milk. The first time I made them I boiled them too rapidly and they didn't stick together very well. My sister also gave me a tip to place a plate in the bottom of the pot you are boiling them in and they won't stick to the bottom.
They are a little heavy, but also filling.
Ellen
At the risk of suggesting something really non-traditional... I bake kroppkakor when I make it. I know you're supposed to boil the dumplings, but just try it baked once - it's yummy! (My grandmother would just shake her head if she knew.)
Jag är en ölänning så jag äter dom alltid med lingonsylt OCH grädde. Men jag måste säga att jag föredrar den öländska rätten lufsa som påminner en hel del om kroppkakor.
I love these. Kropp-kaka or Kroppkakor are way better (in my opinion) than Swedish Cabbage, or, Kol-Dolma. My Grandmother fron the South Side of Chicago made both very regularly and I lived to tell about it. I miss you granny!
Can't wait to try this recipe, my 74 year old full blood swede husband remembers these very fondly. He remembers 1/2 raw and 1/2 cooked potatos.
Thanks for sharing this old favorite.
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