Kroppkakor

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 kgfloury potatoes, boiled the day before
• 150 gplain flour
• 1egg yolk
• 1 tspsalt
• a grating of allspice

Filling

• 250 gsalt pork or smoked bacon, finely diced
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 1 tspground allspice
• black pepper

To serve

• melted butter
• lingonberry jam
• cream

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins the day before and refrigerate them overnight.
2. Cold day-old potato is essential. Freshly boiled potato holds too much moisture and needs so much flour that the dumplings turn to rubber.
3. Peel and grate or rice the cold potatoes into a bowl.
4. Work in the flour, egg yolk, salt and allspice to a firm, smooth dough, adding as little flour as you can get away with.
5. Add flour sparingly and stop as soon as it holds together. Every extra spoonful makes them heavier.
6. Fry the diced pork until the fat renders and the pieces are golden, then add the onion and cook until soft.
7. Season heavily with allspice and pepper, and let the filling cool completely.
8. Allspice is the Swedish signature here and it should be assertive.
9. Divide the dough into pieces about the size of a small apple.
10. Flatten one in a wet palm, put a spoonful of the cold filling in the centre, and close the dough over it.
11. Roll it smooth between wet hands and check carefully for cracks.
12. Seal them completely. A split kroppkaka disintegrates in the pot and clouds the water for everything else in it.
13. Bring a wide pot of salted water to a gentle simmer, never a hard boil.
14. Lower the dumplings in and cook them for 20 to 25 minutes.
15. They rise to the surface after a few minutes, and that is the halfway point rather than the finish.
16. Keep the water at a bare simmer throughout. A rolling boil knocks them against each other and they break.
17. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and serve immediately with melted butter, lingonberry jam and cream.
18. The Öland and Småland versions differ, and locals will tell you which is correct with some feeling.
19. Leftovers are excellent halved and fried in butter the next day.

Technique

• They are traditionally eaten on Thursdays in some parts of Sweden, alongside the pea soup tradition.
• Butter, lingonberry and cream together is the fixed accompaniment.
• They freeze well raw and cook from frozen with five minutes added.

Substitutions

• Smoked bacon in place of salt pork.
• A mix of raw and cooked potato, which is the Öland style and gives a denser dumpling.

Variations

• The Öland version, made partly with raw grated potato.
• Meatless, filled with onion and allspice alone.
• Palt, the closely related northern Swedish dumpling.

History

A speciality of Öland, Blekinge and Småland, where potatoes replaced barley in the dumpling during the nineteenth century.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kroppkakor?

Kroppkakor is a main from Sweden: boiled potato dumplings stuffed with salt pork and onion. A speciality of Öland, Blekinge and Småland, where potatoes replaced barley in the dumpling during the nineteenth century.

How long does Kroppkakor take to make?

Kroppkakor takes 40 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 10. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Kroppkakor?

Yes, within limits. Smoked bacon in place of salt pork. A mix of raw and cooked potato, which is the Öland style and gives a denser dumpling.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kroppkakor?

Bring a wide pot of salted water to a gentle simmer, never a hard boil.