Austrian Apricot Dumplings (Marillenknodel)

I am attracted by the unusual - something a little different from the norm that strikes my fancy.  Recently in my pilates class, one of the girls was talking about her in-laws making dumplings with fresh apricots, sugar cubes, potato dough and breadcrumbs.  I immediately knew I wanted to make these dumplings, so off I went to Google to do a search, and found this recipe for Austrian apricot dumplings. I only made a half batch for the purposes of this experiment.

Making these dumplings is a really cool process, and I have never seen anything like it before.  First, you slice open an apricot 2/3 of the way round and remove the stone, then replace it with a sugar cube:  

 

In the meantime, you boil up some potatoes, mash them well, and make a dough with the mashed potato.  (I had to use a lot more flour than suggested to get a dough that I could work with.) You then wrap the dough around the apricots to form balls:

I only managed three dumplings out of my half batch of dough.  Oh well.

You then boil these rather large balls for 10 minutes in salted water, then let them drain on paper towels before sprinkling them with fried breadcrumbs and sugar.

During the boiling process, the sugar cube in the centre of the apricots melts, so that the dumpling is savoury on the outside and sweet in the middle.
These were definitely different.  I enjoyed them for a change (though I can only manage one at a time - they are huge), but now that I have satisfied  my curiosity, I probably wouldn't make them again other than as part of an Austrian themed dinner.
Have a great week.