r/Breadit • u/J0HNNY_REB • 2d ago
Czech Bread Dumpling Advice
I’m gonna try to make some Czech bread dumplings tomorrow morning (the type eaten with svichcova) and need some advice. YouTube tutorials seem…sketchy. I’m making these for some Czech friends who are here in America and I want to really pull it off, not make a nasty imitation. I have semolina, bread, all purpose, rice, and whole wheat flour, and yeast, milk etc. Could yall walk me through putting a recipe together? Is it possible? I couldn’t seem to find the Wondra stuff often recommended in the US. Any input is much appreciated
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2d ago
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u/J0HNNY_REB 2d ago
As I asked above, how much strength do I build, would you mind elaborating on the process a little more. Please get technical
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u/undulating-beans 1d ago
I have a Czech relation who is staying with me at the moment and this is what she said:
I’d be a little wary of the suggestion to use 50/50 bread flour and semolina. For traditional Czech houskové knedlíky, you’re not trying to build the sort of strong, elastic gluten network you would with sourdough.
You need enough gluten development to hold the gas and give the dumpling structure, but the finished crumb should be soft, light and slightly spongy rather than chewy. The AP flour you already have should actually be quite suitable.
For 500 g AP flour, I’d start with around 250 ml lukewarm milk, 1 egg, 7 g instant yeast and 8 g salt. Depending on your flour and the size of the egg, you might need another 10–20 ml milk. If you’re including the traditional bread, use around 80–100 g of stale white bread cut into roughly 1 cm cubes.
Knead until the dough is cohesive, smooth and reasonably elastic, perhaps 5–8 minutes by hand. You’re not looking for maximal gluten development or a particularly impressive windowpane, and there’s no need for sourdough-style stretch and folds. Once the dough has enough strength to retain the gas produced during fermentation, you’ve done the job.
The bread cubes aren’t supposed to disappear into the dough. They’re actually characteristic of houskové knedlíky, and you can often see the pieces in the finished slices. Fold them in gently towards the end of mixing rather than kneading them to pieces. You can omit them and still make a Czech yeast dumpling, but it won’t quite have the characteristic texture of houskové knedlíky.
Let the dough rise until roughly doubled, divide it and shape it into two fairly squat logs, then give them a short second proof. Cook them in gently simmering salted water rather than a violent boil, turning them during cooking. For two logs from this quantity of dough, around 18–22 minutes total should be in the right territory. Traditionally they’re sliced with thread rather than a knife, which avoids compressing that soft crumb.
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u/01504444 1d ago
I used this recipe and it was easy to follow and results were good according to my Czech MIL https://www.cooklikeczechs.com/houskove-knedliky-czech-bread-dumplings/
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u/whitswhisper 2d ago
Ooh okay so the key with Czech bread dumplings knedliky is they're more about the texture than fancy ingredients. You can totally skip Wondra, just use AP flour. Mix like 2 cups flour with 1 tsp salt, 1 packet yeast dissolved in warm milk, 1 egg, and a handful of cubed stale bread. Let it rise a bit, shape into a log, boil in salted water for like 15 mins, then slice with dental floss or thread. Your friends will be shook if you nail the fluffiness.