I usually think of dumplings as an addition to soup, but fruit dumplings make a delicious dessert. Although dumplings can be baked (usually apple dumplings), these recipes are for boiled dumplings.

INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

ORANGE DUMPLINGS
Mix two cups prepared flour, two eggs, two teaspoons butter, one tablespoon sugar and one cup water into a thick batter. Pare three nice oranges and cut them into small pieces. Remove the pits and all the skin, so that there is nothing left but the meat of the oranges. Stir this into the batter. Have a kettle of boiling water on the stove with a little salt. Drop the mixture with a tablespoon into the boiling water, taking care not to put too much in at once. Cover the kettle and boil the dumplings ten minutes. These dumplings should be removed from the water as soon as done, otherwise they will become heavy. Remove them with a skimmer to a warm dish and serve at once with the following sauce:

Stir two tablespoons butter with one cup powdered sugar to a cream. Add by degrees one egg, two tablespoons brandy or wine, the juice of one orange, and a little grated rind.

APPLE DUMPLINGS
Put one-half pound lard, one pound sifted flour, and one teaspoon salt in a bowl. Chop the lard fine with a knife into the flour. Add one-half cup water and mix it with the knife into a stiff paste. Put the paste on a floured board and roll it out about one-half inch in thickness. Fold it up and roll it out again about one-eighth of an inch thick.

Cut into squares and lay in the center of each a pared and cored juicy, tart apple. Bring the corners of the squares neatly together and press them lightly. Inclose each dumpling in a small square cloth, bringing the four corners together and fastening with a pin. Each cloth should be previously dipped in hot water, wrung out and dusted with flour on the inside before the dumpling is put into it. Drop them into boiling water which is slightly salted, boil one-half hour and serve with cherry wine sauce.

Note.—The above ingredients will make about 8 dumplings. A good pie crust can also be used for this purpose. One-half pound finely chopped suet may be used instead of lard. Peach, plum and cherry dumplings are made the same way.

FRUIT DUMPLINGS
Stir one ounce butter to a cream and add by degrees three eggs, two tablespoons sugar, two tablespoons finely chopped almonds, a little grated lemon peel, four large apples peeled and cut into small slices, and one-fourth pound bread that has been previously soaked in water and pressed out in a napkin. Add a cup of bread crumbs and mix all together. Use a spoon to drop this mixture into slightly salted boiling water, making small dumplings. Boil until done and serve with wine sauce. Cherries, peaches, pears, plums, blackberries or huckleberries may be used instead of apples.

FINE FRUIT DUMPLINGS
Pare and quarter some peaches, apples or pears and boil them in sugar syrup until done, but in such a way that the pieces stay whole. Then take them out with a skimmer and lay on a long dish. In the meantime, prepare some dumplings as follows: Place one cup milk with one tablespoon butter over the fire. As soon as it boils, stir in one cup sifted flour and stir constantly until it has formed into a smooth dough and loosens itself from the bottom of the saucepan. After the dough has cooled, stir one tablespoon butter to a cream and add by degrees the yolks of three eggs, the dough, one tablespoon dry farina and lastly, the egg whites beaten to a stiff froth. Form the mixture with a tablespoon into dumplings and drop them into the boiling syrup in which the fruit was boiled. When done, take them out with a skimmer and lay in a circle around the fruit. Pour the syrup over them and serve. These dumplings may also be made with dried fruit.

STRAWBERRY DUMPLINGS
Take one cup beef suet freed from strings and chopped fine, three cups sifted prepared flour, one tablespoon sugar and two eggs. Mix with three-fourths cup cold water to a soft dough. Shape into large balls with floured hands, put into a dumpling cloth* that is buttered and floured on the inside and fasten the four corners of the cloth together with a pin. Drop into slightly salted boiling water and boil till done, which will take about one-half hour. The best way to ascertain if dumplings are done is to thrust a knitting needle into them. If no dough clings to it and the needle comes out clean, they are done. They must be instantly removed from fire, taken from the cloth, laid on a warm dish and served at once.

Serve with the following sauce:
Stir two tablespoons butter with one cup powdered sugar to a cream and add the yolks of two eggs and three tablespoons white wine. When this is well mixed, stir one cup nice, ripe strawberries into it. Put the sauce into a glass dish. Have the egg whites beaten to a stiff froth, spread it over the top of the sauce and set nice, large strawberries around the edge of dish. These dumplings may be made of all kinds of fruit—peaches, cherries, plums, pears or apricots.

*Pudding / dumpling cloth or bag – a large square of cloth usually made of linen or cotton cloth, to hold a pudding or dumpling securely in a boiling water bath.

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