Berry Dumplings.—Use berries of any kind carefully picked, hulled or prepared, and make as for apple dumplings, putting 1 or 2 tablespoons of berries in each dumpling.
English Dumpling.—1 pint flour, 1 cup finely chopped suet, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Royal Baking Powder. Mix and sift flour, salt, and baking powder. Add suet; mix to firm dough with ice-water. Knead for 2 minutes; roll out ½ inch thick. Put a floured cloth over a bowl; on it spread the crust. Fill with sliced apples mixed with sugar and a little powdered cinnamon. Draw up crust and cloth so as to completely cover apples; tie cloth, allowing a little room to swell. Drop in kettle of rapidly boiling water, with trivet at bottom to prevent scorching. Keep at a rapid boil for 2 hours. If water stops boiling the dumpling will be heavy. Or place in steamer and steam 3 hours. Serve hot with cream and sugar or a liquid sauce.
Farina Dumplings.—1 quart milk, 10 ounces farina, 3 eggs, 1½ teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, a tablespoon fresh butter, ½ pound flour. Bring milk to a boil, stir in farina, and boil till well done, continually stirring. After cooling, stir in the melted butter and eggs previously beaten up, and last add flour sifted with baking powder and salt. Drop with tablespoon into boiling water, well salted; boil about 15 minutes till they rise; take out with skimmer and serve with fruit sauce.
Peach Dumplings.—Proceed as directed for apple dumplings, 1.
Peach Dumplings, 2.—Bring 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons butter, to boiling point; turn in quickly 1 cup dry flour; stir till mixture draws away from sides of pan. Take from fire and cool. Work in 4 eggs, ⅔ cup flour mixed with ½ teaspoon Royal Baking Powder, more flour if necessary to make a soft dough. Pat out in a cake, cut in rounds with a saucer. On each place a pared, unpitted peach. Draw dough round to cover the fruit. Place in greased pan, brush with milk, and bake 30 minutes in moderate oven. Serve with clear sauce.
Receipts for making dumplings for a stew or fricassee frequently call for shortening. This is a mistake, and usually results in heavy, soggy dumplings. Heaviness may also be caused by a removal of the lid of pot or steamer before the dumplings are done. Flour, salt, Royal Baking Powder, and sweet milk are all that are needed to make tender, fluffy dumplings of this kind. The dry ingredients should be sifted carefully together, then quickly mixed with the milk. During the cooking the liquid in pot or steamer should be kept at a steady boil. No more batter or dough should be dropped in at one time than will cover the surface of the liquid or rest on top of the meat, for, if too many dumplings are dropped in at once, those underneath are sure to be soggy. The cover should not be lifted until the dumplings are done.
Dumplings for Soup.—1 cup flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Royal Baking Powder, sifted together. Add ⅓ cup finely chopped suet, and enough milk to make stiff dough. Make into dumplings size of marbles, drop into soup, cover, and boil 10 minutes.
Egg Dumplings for Soup.—Beat 2 eggs, add ¼ teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons milk. Sift 1 cup flour with 1 scant teaspoon Royal Baking Powder, add egg mixture, and more flour if necessary to make thick batter. Drop by half teaspoonfuls in boiling soup; cover, cook 10 minutes.
Dumplings for Stews.—Mix and sift 1 pint flour, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon salt. Mix to soft dough with milk. Turn on board, roll out 1 inch thick, cut in small circles. Roll each in flour, drop on top simmering stew. Cover, cook 20 minutes without opening pot.