Skip to main content
Dessert

Peach Dumplings

Steamed dumplings filled with peach compote.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Peach Dumplings

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. In a bowl, mix flour, milk (or water), shortening, salt, egg, and sugar.

  2. Dissolve the yeast in water.

  3. Add the dissolved yeast to the mixture.

  4. Let the dough rise for 3 hours.

Prepare the compote

  1. Prepare a peach compote by stewing peaches with sugar, cinnamon, and cloves.

Shape and steam

  1. Roll out the dough to ½ inch thick on a floured surface.

  2. Cut out circles with a tumbler.

  3. Brush the edges of each circle with egg white.

  4. Place a teaspoon of peach compote in the center of each circle.

  5. Cover with another circle.

  6. Press the edges together.

  7. Steam the dumplings over boiling water.

  8. Serve with additional peach sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Peach + cinnamontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together625 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  3. Peach + clovetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together280 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the gluten structure that holds the dough together and lets it rise.
Yeast
Produces gas during rising, leavening the dough so it becomes light and airy.
Egg
Adds structure and richness to the dough, and its white seals the dumpling edges.
Milk or water
Hydrates the flour so gluten can develop into a workable dough.
Shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the dough and gives a softer crumb.
Peaches
Provide the fruit filling, contributing sweetness, moisture and fruity flavor.

The step that matters

Press the edges together. If the seams are not sealed well, the compote can leak out during steaming and the dumplings may open or turn out dry.

Swap the peach

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, egg, sugar, cinnamon, clove):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Peachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, egg, sugar, cinnamon, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Cinnamon RollsCinnamon Rolls71 recipesPeach Ice CreamPeach Ice Cream64 recipesPeach FrittersPeach Fritters55 recipesClove CakeClove Cake53 recipes