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POTATO KLOSSE, SWEET (a German dish)
Beat four ounces of fresh butter to a cream. Add to this a pinch of salt, five or six large lumps of sugar which have been well rubbed upon the rind of a fresh lemon and afterwards crushed to powder, the well-beaten yolks of four and the whites of two eggs, two table-spoonfuls of finely-grated bread-crumbs, and as much potato flour, or flour scooped out of freshly-baked potatoes, as will make a thick firm paste. Form this into balls the size of a walnut, dip them in egg and bread-crumbs, and fry in hot fat until they are equally and brightly browned. Drain them on blotting-papper, and serve piled high on a white d'oyley, with powdered sugar sifted over them. Time to fry, five or six minutes. Probable cost, 1s. 2d. Sufficient for five or six persons.
A fried sweet dumpling that behaves more like a croquette than a boiled Kloss. The dough is soft and butter-rich, so temperature control at both ends — chilling before shaping, steady fat while frying — decides whether the balls hold together.
- Lump sugar on the lemonRubbing sugar lumps over the zest until they turn yellow and oily draws out the peel oils; the technique survives as oleo-saccharum in bartending. Five or six Victorian lumps come to roughly 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar. Zest a lemon into the same quantity of sugar and rub it with your fingers for the same effect.
- Potato flourNot potato starch in the modern packet sense necessarily — the recipe offers the alternative of dry flesh scooped from a freshly baked potato. Baked, riced and cooled floury potato gives a lighter dumpling; pure potato starch makes a denser, chewier one.
- Four yolks, two whitesThe imbalance likely favours richness and binding from the yolks while keeping white to a minimum so the paste does not toughen. Keep the two spare whites for the egg wash, thinned with a spoonful of water.
- Firmness of the pasteAdd the starch gradually and stop when the mixture just holds a shape. Chill the paste for half an hour before rolling into walnut-sized balls, or the creamed butter will make them slump in the fat.
- Frying temperature"Hot fat" is not defined here; moderately hot fat, in the region of 340-350F, suits the stated five or six minutes for a walnut-sized ball. Hotter and the crumb coat browns before the centre sets.
- Blotting-paperKitchen paper towels. Drain and dust with icing sugar while still hot so it clings.
- ServingA d'oyley is a lace or paper doily on a serving dish. Expect roughly 18 to 20 dumplings from this quantity, best eaten within minutes of frying.
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