Potato dumplings have been common feast food all over the country since soon after the potatoes made their entrance into the Swedish kitchen in the middle of the 18th century. Method and ingredients vary over the country, depending on supply and availability, but the common factors are potatoes and pork.
This is Kroppkakor as my grandmother made them.
Kroppkakor - potato and pork dumplings
Kroppkakor as my grandmother used to make them
Equipment
- 1 Stock pot or a large sauce pan
- 1 Potato masher or potato ricer, or whatever you use to mash potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 kg floury potatoes King Edward is great but any floury potato type works
- 2 eggs
- 300 g cured belly pork or bacon
- 1 onion brown or red
- 1 tsp allspice crushed
- 60-80 g flour
- milk if needed
Instructions
- Peal and cut the potatoes into smallish cubes and boil them in salted water as you normally do to make mash.1 kg floury potatoes
- While the potatoes are cooking, cut the belly pork or bacon into the smallest cubes you can manage and chop the onion. Saute the pork and onion. Season with the crushed allspice. Set aside to cool300 g cured belly pork, 1 onion, 1 tsp allspice
- Mash the potatoes using masher, ricer or however you normally mash them. Set aside to cool.
- Once the mash is room temperature, mix in the eggs and flour. Use your discretion with regards to the flour. You'll need a minimum of 60 g for the mixture to hold the filling, but if it is too loose you may want to add more, alternatively if it feels too stodgy to shape you may need to add some milk.2 eggs, 60-80 g flour, milk if needed
- Form a loaf of the mash and cut it into twelve equal slices.
- Shape a disc of each slice, roughly 10 cm in diameter. Put a spoonful of filling in the center and gently fold the disc around it to form a smooth ball.
- Using a large saucepan, fill water to a depth of 15 cm, add 2 tsp salt to each liter of water and bring to boil. Once the water is boiling, gently lower a few dumplings into the pot. Unless you have an extremely large pot you will need to cook them in batches of four to five. They will initially sink to the bottom but as they cook they will rise to the surface. Once they do, let them simmer for another five minutes before lifting each of them out separately and placing them on a serving plate in the oven to keep warm whilst you cook the rest.
Notes
Traditionally pork and potato dumplings are served with melted butter and sweetened lingon berries, but as the latter may be difficult, if not impossible, to find in many parts of the world they can be substituted with sweetened cranberries. Skip the meat to make this dish vegetarian.
how much is 1kg of flour 300g of bacon, 60 – 80gflour
If it’s the one kg floury potatoes you’re thinking of they equal 2.2 pounds or 35 oz
300 g bacon or belly pork equals 0.66 pounds or 10.6 oz
60-80 g flour equals 0.15 pound, 2.4 oz or 0.4 US cups
Hope that helps!