August 2, 2024

Inspired by North Dakota

THE MEAL

(Click on the links above to jump to that part of the post!)

Knoephla Soup

It may be the middle of a sweltering summer, but I still loved making and eating this soup that’s traditionally made at Christmastime in North Dakota!

Knoephla is a type of German dumpling similar to spaetzle, and knoephla soup was originally brought to North Dakota by pioneers coming from Germany and Russia. In many recipes it’s just dumplings, potatoes, and a creamy broth, and so many posts I saw about it online were of people reminiscing about their grandmothers making it as a comfort food during the harsh North Dakota winters. Such a cozy visual!

I went with a recipe that included celery and carrots, so it ended up being like a mix between a potato soup and a chicken dumpling soup (minus the chicken). It was delicious and very filling. I would definitely make it again in the colder months. Next time, though, I might try the method that involves using a spaetzle maker, because my dumplings were pretty huge. 🙂

Wheat Rolls

In hindsight, I didn’t need a bread to go with knoephla soup, since it already had a thick broth, potatoes, and doughy dumplings in it. But I like making bread and needed something to supplement this meal, so I went with wheat rolls. Wheat is a major crop in North Dakota, thanks to its rich soil and very flat land. It usually competes with Kansas for the state that produces the most wheat.

I’m happy with how these rolls turned out. It had a nice crust while still being light and fluffy inside. I wanted to practice making other shapes besides loaves and buns, so I challenged myself by making knots. They were definitely varied in shape and size, but they were fun to make and looked pretty.

As you can see in the pictures of the whole meal at the top and bottom of this page, I ate the rolls with cherry preserves to represent the chokecherries that are a big part of cuisine in both North and South Dakota.

Caramel Rolls

I made dough three times for this meal, and this was the second time in two months that I made cinnamon rolls! I feel like I’m getting better at working with dough after how many things I’ve baked for this challenge.

Cinnamon rolls are mostly associated with Sweden, and North Dakota had a lot of Scandinavian immigrants as well as Germans. Nobody’s really sure how the variant caramel rolls rose to prominence in North Dakota, but they seemed to appear in the mid-1900s, and now they’re found in bakeries throughout the state.

These caramel rolls used basically the same dough and filling as cinnamon rolls, but instead of soaking with heavy cream and topping with icing, you make a caramel sauce and bake the rolls on top of it, then flip the pan out onto a serving tray so the caramel is on top, kind of like an upside-down cake! They’re supposed to be really gooey, unlike the better-known sticky buns you can find elsewhere.

My rolls turned out a little pale, but they were delicious! I was worried that they would stick to the pan, but they actually came out really easily—so easily, in fact, that I accidentally spilled a lot of caramel onto my countertop. Which was a huge shame, because the caramel was my favorite part of this recipe. It was made using melted vanilla ice cream, and it turned out tasting just like the caramel cubes you melt for dipping apples at Halloween!

Between making that caramel sauce and making dumplings for the knoephla soup, this meal made me nostalgic for my grandma’s caramel dumpling recipe. Like this meal, though, caramel dumplings are very heavy and best enjoyed in the winter, so I think I’ll hold off for now. 🙂