Milk Chocolate Dumplings

If you’re stopping by to check in on my health status, I’M ALIVEEEEE! The drugs have been working and I’ve finally moved out of the bedroom and into the living room which is a very big deal. I’ve started to work again, even though styling one plate of dumplings takes all the energy I have reserved for the day. I even interacted with an office full of people for Reuben’s holiday party last night! By the time 7pm rolled around I felt like I was going to dying again, but I persevered and stuffed my face with a few more dumpling to keep my energy up. All holiday parties should have dumplings BTW. Fingers crossed the flu is behind me!

I’m not quite back to normal yet and I feel like when I attempt to write or communicate with people I sound like a crazy bag lady, so I’m going to keep this blog post short and sweet. Sort of like these dumplings!

Milk Chocolate Dumplings may sound a little odd, but don’t knock it until you try it! I get asked all the time about dessert dumplings. Typically a dessert dumpling would be filled with red bean paste or taro paste. They are delicious but sometimes you just need some classic melty chocolate. I didn’t invent the Chocolate Dumpling. I don’t know who did, but they were definitely made popular by Din Tai Fun! Choco-Dumps (is that a terrible name?) are a really fun and tasty way to end of meal full of rich, savory, and spicy dumplings!

Someone told me that you could just stick a Hershey’s kiss in the middle of a dumpling and get a chocolate dumpling… I didn’t test that but you can by all means try! I made a creamy chocolate ganache that melts into the smoothest milkiest chocolate after a quick trip to the steamer. It’s actually incredibly easy to make chocolate ganache. All you do is pour heavy cream over some chocolate and whisk it until it comes together! At first it looks like a milky mess but just keep whisking and eventually it will come together!

The wrappers were meant to look like candy cane stripes! I rolled up layers of plain dough and a beet powder dyed dough for a little extra holiday detail. You can of course just use plain dough, but I was treating these dumplings like mini holiday presents and presents need some special gift wrapping! The chewiness of the wrappers contrasted with the smooth chocolate is super delightful!

Happy almost holiday folks! We’ll be in Cleveland next week! Woohooooo!

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Milk Chocolate Dumplings

makes 32 dumplings

Plain Dumpling Dough:
7.5 oz (scant 1 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
3.75 oz (scant 1/2 cup) boiled water

Red Dumpling Dough:

2.5 oz (scant 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp beet powder
1.25 oz (~2 1/2 tbsp) boiled water

Milk Chocolate Ganache:
8 oz milk chocolate - chopped
1 cup heavy cream

to make dough:

1. Add flour and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and slowly pour in just boiled water. Mix dough together with chopsticks. Mix until water is absorbed. Use your fingers to grab the dough and pinch together to form a cohesive dough ball. Knead for 2-3 minutes until dough is round and smooth. Place dough in a medium ziplock bag or cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest and hydrate for at least 30 minutes. Dough can rest for up to 3 hours before being used.

2. Repeat step 1 with red dough.

to make chocolate ganache:

1. Add chopped chocolate to a heatproof bowl. Warm up heavy cream in a saucepan until it reaches a simmer. Pour heavy cream over the chocolate and whisk until chocolate has melted and ganache has thickened. Cover the ganache with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour or overnight.

to form dumplings:

1. Take the plain dough and cut it in half. Roll out one half of the plain dough into 1/8” thick rectangle. Take the red dough and cut in half. Roll out one half of the red dough into a rectangle about the same size as the plain dough. Place the red dough over the plain dough and roll up the dough lengthwise into a rope. Steam the seams close and continue to roll out the dough into a 1” thick rope. Repeat with other half of dough.

2. Cut each rope of dough into 16 equal pieces, giving you 32 pieces of dough total. Place the piece of dough cut side up (so you see the swirl) on your work surface and gently press it down with the palm of your hand to form a flat disc. Roll out dough into a 4” round circle.

3. Take one wrapper and fill with 1 tbsp of ganache. Begin to pleat in a circular motion and sealed. Place the formed dumpling on a baking sheet lightly dusted with flour. Repeat with remaining dumplings.

4. Set up your steaming station. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Line a bamboo steamer, that’s the same diameter as the pot of boiling water, with perforated parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray. Fill the steamer with dumplings, spaced 1/2 inch apart Cover the steamer with the lid and steam for 6-7 minutes. Remove the steamer from the pot and lift the lid to allow the steam to release.

5. Allow the dumplings to cool slightly and enjoy!

notes: If you want to make 1 batch of plain dough, just use 10 oz AP flour (about 2 cups) to 5 oz just boiled water (about 2/3 cup).