Peach Dumplings with Ginger Beer Sauce

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “comfort food.” Few dishes scream comfort food like dumplings of any type. But most people think of chicken and dumplings, or even savory pizza rolls, and not necessarily dumplings rolled around fresh seasonal fruits and stewed in a simple, custom-made sauce. This recipe can be as simple or as complicated as you want. Only you need to know the source of the dough, or if the fruit was fresh or frozen. Depending on how much you want to do yourself—if you want to make your own dough, or want to use something already made from the store—this dish can be a change-of-pace breakfst side dish or a perfect end-of-the-day treat. Serve alongside some tasty vanilla ice cream, and you have the ultimate in dessert dumplings.

As I write this, it’s the middle of summer in California, and my backyard is positively dripping with fresh fruit. Six weeks ago I was smothered in blackberries, four weeks ago my black cherry tree came ripe, and now I’m enjoying the delicate fruit off of my white peach tree. The easy thing would be to bake up a peach pie, or a peach tart, or just put the darn things into a jar and call it preserves.

So I wondered, '“would those delicate peaches stand up to becoming filling for a dessert dumpling? How best to proceed? What do I want the dumpling to look like? What can I do to make the sauce flavorful but not simply a fruit-flavored sugar sauce?”

And here I am.

I recognize that not everyone has a yard full of fruit trees, and I also recognize that you may be reading this when fresh peaches may be unavailable or cost-prohibitive. I’ve got your back—you absolutely can use frozen peaches in this recipe!

I also recognize that you may lack the confidence or the time to work with anything that calls itself “dough.” The first time I made this dish I confess to using store-bought puff pastry. There is no reason you cannot use store-bought crescent roll dough from one of those pop-open cans. But this time I made this dish and chose to photograph it, I put my big girl panties on and went for the “homemade dough adventure.”

The not-so-secret to working with a dough that you have to roll out, be it this recipe or a pie crust, is to work with the dough while it’s cold. This dough starts out differently from a pie crust. When putting together ingredients for a pie crust, you need to use chilled butter that’s been cut in pieces. With this dough, you use melted butter. When this dough bakes, it doesn’t have the flakiness of a pie crust, but the buttery goodness permeates the entire dumpling.

If you are making your own dough and going to do this dish immediately, I suggest you have the dough hang out in your freezer or fridge while you are making the sauce. Chilled dough is always easier to handle.

Now for the secret of not making a fruit-flavored sugar sauce: I use ginger beer in place of the water, and cut the added sugar down to 1/4 cup.

So what makes a dumpling a dumpling? Did you know that dumplings are part of many different cuisine types from all over the world? What they all have in common is that they are made with different types of starches that include flours made from various grains, including cornmeal, or even potato. Dumplings can be baked, steamed, poached, fried or boiled. Think about Chinese potstickers—yep, that’s a dumpling! Empanadas from the Caribbean and Latin America are dumplings. Pierogis from Poland are dumplings, as are Italian ravioli, tortellini and gnocchi, and there’s always Matzah balls from Israel.

My testers for this recipe were again my neighbor’s family of five. Their two-year old very much enjoyed picking up a dumpling and running around the house with it, so I’d say this is a recipe that can please a family.

If you don’t happen to have peach preserves at hand, use apricot, or quickly whip up your own. Simply dice up a couple of peaches, cook over medium heat with a tablespoon or two of sugar, and cook until the fruit is soft. No need to add pectin, as you are going to dump your fresh peach preserve right into the sauce.

Also, don’t be tempted to use a super-shallow baking dish or lipped cookie sheet to bake your dumplings. The cooking method is a hybrid between baking and poaching in the liquid. Too much of the sauce will evaporate, leaving your dumplings still tasty but kind of dry. Stick with a nice Pyrex baking dish that’s at least two inches deep.

Yes, you can use other fruits for these dumplings! I did do a test batch of apple dumplings, which is how and why I learned that a deeper dish is better than a shallow cuter one. I used homemade applesauce in the sauce alongside the ginger beer, and used a blend of apple spice that is one part cinnamon, 1/2 part nutmeg and 1/4 part cardamom.

Do you have a favorite dumpling? Do you like using recipes that let you be as complicated or as simple as you want to be? What would be your dream dumpling, the ultimate in comfort food, if you could turn anything into a dumplig?

dessert, peach, ginger beer, autumn, summer

Dessert

American

Yield: 6-8

Author: Rae Goldman

Print

With ImageWithout Image

Peach Dumplings with Ginger Beer Sauce

Soft, flavorful fruit-filled dumplings cooked in a ginger beer-based fruit sauce that can be a special breakfast or delightful dessert.

Prep time: 20 MCook time: 55 MTotal time: 75 M

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 2 large fresh peaches, halved, stone removed and peeled (You can use frozen peaches, 10 ounces.)
• 3/4 cup ginger beer (generous serving)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon, separated 
• 1/2 cup peach or apricot preserves 
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (to taste) 

Instructions:

1. You can make the dough the evening before, as cold dough is easier to roll out and handle. You can also use pre-purchased crescent rolls in a pop-open can or puff pastry. 
2. If baking immediately, move oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 350 degrees.  Use an 8" by 8" baking pan.
3. Make the dough: Combine dry ingredients, the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Combine milk and melted butter in a second smaller bowl, don't be alarmed if butter forms clots. By hand, using a rubber or plastic spatula, stir the milk and butter into the flour mixture until just combined. Place dough onto a lightly- floured surface and knead for about one minute until flour is fully incorporated into the dough. Return the dough to the large bowl, cover and put into refrigerator (if you are making this several hours before assembling and cooking the dumplings, wrap the dough into a ball and place it in the fridge). 
4. Prepare the fruit: Remove skin from peaches (We used white peaches, so we did not remove the skin). Cut in half, remove the stone, and cut each half into half (8 slices per fresh peach).
5. Make the sauce: Combine the ginger beer, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and 4 peach slices into a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until butter melted and sugar fully dissolved. (If using frozen peaches, cook until the peaches are thawed.) Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool for about 5 minutes. Put the sauce into a blender or food processor, add the peach or apricot preserves and lemon juice, and blend until smooth. 
6. Shape the dumpling dough and make dumplings: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, rub flour on rolling pin. Roll dough into as near a 12 inch square as you can, with dough about 1/8" thick. Using a pizza cutter or pastry wheel, cut the dough into a square using a straight edge to make a perfect square. Now cut dough in half. Cut each dough rectangle into three squares, ;then cut each square at the diagonal, so the dough looks like an unrolled crescent roll. You will have 12 triangles of dough.
7. Place a wedge of fruit onto the widest edge of the triangle, Roll each edge around the wedge of fruit and place into baking dish, seam side down. You will have three rows with four dumplings in each row, and they will fit snugly into the dish. 
8. Pour the sauce over the unbaked dumplings. Combine the remaining teaspoon of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dumplings. 
9. Bake for 45 minutes until dumplings are golden brown and. the sauce bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Calories

486.49

Carbs (grams)

60.85

Fiber (grams)

3.07

Net carbs

57.78

Protein (grams)

4.23

Sodium (milligrams)

716.87

Cholesterol (grams)

43.16

Serving is two dumplings per person

https://www.insolenceandwine.com/blog/peach-dumplings

Rae Goldman

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @insolenceandwine on instagram and hashtag it #insolenceandwinerecipes

Created using The Recipes Generator