Cold noses – warm dessert from Mecklenburg

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 6 eggs
• 4 tbsp sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 400 g flour
• 100 g raisins
• 50 ml Armagnac, Cognac or Rum
• 400 g quark
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1 pinch(s) of saffron
• ½ lemon(s)
• Salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Rest time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

Dumplings with sweet quark filling

First, soak the raisins in Armagnac or a similar aromatic liquor. For the dough, beat four of the eggs with one tablespoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a little water. Knead in the flour until a smooth dough forms. Add a little more water or flour if necessary. Continue kneading for a few minutes, then let the dough rest in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. Separate the two remaining eggs. Cream two tablespoons of the butter until light and fluffy, then mix well with three tablespoons of sugar, the drained quark, the drained raisins, the two egg yolks, the saffron, and a pinch of salt. Season to taste with the juice of half a lemon. Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface and cut out squares with sides measuring approximately twelve centimeters. Place a tablespoon of the quark mixture in the center of each piece of dough. Brush the edges of the dough with beaten egg white, fold together to form a parcel, and press down firmly so that none of the quark mixture can escape. Bring a large pot of water with a little salt to a simmer. Carefully add the quark parcels and simmer on low heat for a quarter of an hour. Meanwhile, mix the remaining spoonful of sugar with the cinnamon and melt the remaining butter, taking care not to let it brown. Remove the quark parcels from the water with a slotted spoon, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and pour over a little melted butter. A similar dish can be found all along the Baltic coast, all the way up to the Baltic states. The origin of the funny name is unfortunately completely unknown.