Vareniki with Sour Cherries
Small puffy white dumplings, hand-sealed, hiding a tart sour cherry and its red juice, served warm with cream and sugar.
Small puffy white dumplings, hand-sealed, hiding a tart sour cherry and its red juice, served warm with cream and sugar.
Ah, feast days! We all gathered around the table, floury hands, pinching the edge of each little dumpling — a work of hand, a work of form, like composing a painting. The sour cherry hidden inside burst under the tooth and released its purple juice, and you had to laugh as you caught it before it ran. A spoonful of smetana, a little sugar, and the whole summer was in that bite. In exile, at Fontenay, I dreamed of it as one dreams of a homeland.
- •Wheat flour — enough (dough)
- •Egg — one (binder)
- •Warm water — a little (dough elasticity)
- •Sour cherries — a full bowl (filling)
- •Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- •Smetana — for serving (accompaniment)
Vareniki with Sour Cherries
Small puffy white dumplings, hand-sealed, hiding a tart sour cherry and its red juice, served warm with cream and sugar.
Why this dish? Sweet cherry vareniki are the quintessential Ukrainian festive dish, served on joyous days in the Kyiv region where Exter spent her youth — a summer sweetness that contrasts with the frugality of her exile years.
Ah, feast days! We all gathered around the table, floury hands, pinching the edge of each little dumpling — a work of hand, a work of form, like composing a painting. The sour cherry hidden inside burst under the tooth and released its purple juice, and you had to laugh as you caught it before it ran. A spoonful of smetana, a little sugar, and the whole summer was in that bite. In exile, at Fontenay, I dreamed of it as one dreams of a homeland.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — enough (dough)
- Egg — one (binder)
- Warm water — a little (dough elasticity)
- Sour cherries — a full bowl (filling)
- Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- Smetana — for serving (accompaniment)
Ingredients
- Flour — 300 g (dough)
- Egg — 1 (binder)
- Warm water — 120 ml (hydration)
- Salt — 1 pinch (dough seasoning)
- Pitted sour cherries — 300 g (filling)
- Sugar — 3 tablespoons (sweetness)
- Cornstarch — 1 teaspoon (to hold the juice)
- Thick crème fraîche — for serving (smetana)
Method
- Knead flour, egg, salt, and warm water into a supple dough; let rest 30 minutes.
- Mix cherries with sugar and cornstarch.
- Roll dough thinly, cut into discs, place 2 or 3 cherries in the center.
- Fold into half-moons and pinch edges firmly.
- Poach in simmering water for 4 to 5 minutes until they float.
- Serve warm with cream and a dusting of sugar.
How it was made : Vareniki were prepared in large quantities, sometimes frozen outdoors in the Ukrainian winter. Hand-sealing was an art passed down among the women of the family.
The contemporary twist : Arranged in a fan on the plate, the red juice drawing lines on the white cream — a little table scenography.
Aleksandra Exter · Charactorium