Mémé’s Maple Dumplings
When I was very young I remember thinking how strange it was to cook something in maple syrup, even stranger still if it was a “grandfather” of sorts! Well, I still do. Mom also loved to fry sausage and bacon in maple syrup, an old standby in her kitchen.
“Pépés” or grandfathers, is an odd dish with an odd name, but really quite delicious.
Sadly, dumplings have fallen out of fashion, but using simple ingredients, and remarkably little time, these puffy pillows of flavor can be created quickly, sweet or savory. Boiled in maple syrup, and they are incredible, especially if you like the flavor and aroma of dark amber.
Surprisingly, they are not as sweet as one might expect, and are light and pretty to look at as well. They make a wonderful side dish, or can even sit in for dessert. Mom served them with pork.
My grandmother’s original recipe called for lard, but she preferred butter, when one had it on hand. I’ve added a bit of lemon zest to the batter and finish to update them; the acid offsets the sweet and makes it less heavy.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
Scant tsp. salt
1 tbsp. lemon zest
½ stick of butter, cubed, chilled
2/3 cup cold milk
Dark amber maple syrup for cooking.
A little lemon juice and zest
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and add zest. Work in butter with your fingers until it is even, but you still have big chunks of butter. Add milk and mix just until ingredients are combined. The dough will be stiff but soft.
Modern update: You can also do this quickly in a food processor. Place the dry ingredients in the processor, add the butter and pulse five or six times. Dump in the milk and pulse a few more times, just until the mixture comes together.
Combine equal parts maple syrup and water in a deep, wide skillet and bring to a boil. You will want the level to be about an inch and a half.
To make the little dumplings, drop by the tablespoonfuls into the syrup to cook. Don’t crowd, they will swell in the cooking process to double in size.
Time Saver: My swap on this is to use a 1/8-cup ice-cream scoop! No messy fingers, and completely uniform size. I’ll never use the spoon method again!
Cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and don’t remove the top for a full 20 minutes. No cheating! You can’t lift the lid. That’s a sacred law according to my mother!
When done, remove from the syrup, plate, and top with a little of the cooking syrup, lemon zest, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Makes 24 lovely, puffy dumplings.
Hint: These make wonderful dumplings added to any soup our stew. In fact, I use it as my go-to dumpling recipe.
My grandmother, Delora Martel LaFlamme, in 1930. I can see where I got my unruly hair…
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