“Kartäuser Klösse mit Weinsosse”, or Carthusian dumplings with wine sauce, is a sweet Franconian dish I love and cherish. My mother wrote down this recipe when I left home and started a new life
When we were little, my mother often cooked this sweet dish for us. Fridays were my favorite days, and because of my parents catholic faith, most of the time we had an non-meat dish like Kartäuser Klösse, or sometimes fried Cod fish with potatoes and vegetables.
The name Kartäuser or Carthusian derived from the Order of Carthusians (Latin: Ordo Cartusiensis), which are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church.
Before my mother prepared the Kartäuser Klösse my day usually started with a cloth bag and a few D-Marks in my hand, walking to the local bakery to buy German Brötchen (rolls) from the day before.
For the Kartäuser Klösse, it is best to use “Milchweck” (milk rolls) from the day before
In my hometown Würzburg the rolls are called Weck, unless they are elongated rolls with pointed ends, then we speak of “Stölleli”, which in turn are available with and without caraway, but it’s is best to use the “Milchweck” (milk roll).
Below Volkach Wine festival with a Vintner Family
A word about the Weinsosse. This must be one of the only times a kid can consume alcohol in Germany. The Weinsosse (wine sauce) is made with eggs and dry white wine. Sometime beaten egg white is stirred into the cooled egg mass.
Kartäuser Klösse mit Weinsosse
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 stale rolls
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1/3rd cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of half of lemon
- Fine bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil and butter for frying
- Sugar and Cinnamon
- Wine sauce:
- 2 cups dry white wine, if possible Franconian
- 3 egg yolk
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions
- Scrape the hard rind off the rolls, then cut them in half.
- Separate eggs from the yolk. Mix egg yolk, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon zest in a bowl, soak the scraped rolls in it.
- Shake off liquid, then turn in beaten egg white and bread crumbs.
- Fry in oil or (clarified) butter until golden brown, then turn in sugar and cinnamon.
- Wine sauce:
- Place a bowl in a hot water bath, pour in the wine and warm up.
- Then add the egg yolk and sugar and stir until creamy for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Next step place the bowl in ice water and beat the mixture until it becomes frothy for 3 to 4 minutes, and until cooled off
Notes
Chill wine sauce in the refrigerator
