Golden Syrup Dumplings

Voorbereiding

Golden syrup dumplings are a beloved Australian dessert: fluffy dollops of dough steamed in a rich caramel sauce made with golden syrup. Using pantry staples, these sweet treats come together quickly and are ready in under an hour. They are best served warm with chilled cream.

*This recipe originally ran in Australia on HexClad.au.

1. Make the caramel sauce: Combine brown sugar, golden syrup, butter and water in a HexClad 10"/25 cm Hybrid Fry Pan. Cook, stirring, over low heat until butter melts and mixture is combined. Remove from heat. 
2. Prepare the dumpling dough: Put chilled butter in a medium bowl with flour and salt. Rub together with clean fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. In a small bowl, stir milk and vanilla together. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; pour milk mixture in the well and stir in flour mixture until just combined. 
3. Cook the dumplings: Return the pan with the caramel sauce to the stove and bring the sauce to a simmer over medium heat. Use a spoon or a small cookie scoop to scoop tablespoon-size portions of dumpling dough and gently drop them into the sauce, spacing them to allow for expansion as they cook. Cover and reduce heat to low, and cook 10 to 12 minutes or until dumplings are fluffy and a skewer comes out clean when inserted. Carefully turn to coat in the sauce.
4. Divide sauce and dumplings among 4 bowls. Serve warm, dusted with confectioners’ sugar and dolloped with cream.

Note: Golden syrup, known as light treacle in England, is a thick liquid sweetener made by evaporating sugarcane juice or by slow-cooking sugar and water to yield a golden color and a toasty and caramelized flavor. Lyle’s is a popular brand, found online or in the baking aisle of some supermarkets and gourmet grocers. There’s no exact substitute for it (corn syrup just isn’t the same!), but maple syrup may be a good alternative for it in this recipe if you can’t get your hands on the real thing.