Dampfnudeln

Dampfnudeln- I have been trying some of the technical challenges from The Great British Bake Off and made these delicious dumplings last weekend.  I had eaten Dampfnudeln before but not attempted to make them myself.

After having attempted making Dampfnudeln before the bread episode of Bake Off aired, I watched with great interest to see how they got on. The instructions the contestants were given were very scant indeed and it was no wonder that almost all of the struggled with the task.  I dare say that Paul Hollywood would not attempt Dampfnudeln often himself, and obviously had been scouring the globe for tricky recipes for the contestants to make.  With the right recipe and clear instructions the dumplings weren't difficult or faffy, and tasted very nice indeed with custard.

Dampfnudeln

500g bread flour
100g sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
7g sachet instant yeast
150ml whole milk
2 large free range eggs
70g unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Poaching liquid
25g unsalted butter
pinch of ground cinnamon
150g whole milk
25g sugar

Custard and plum sauce to serve, homemade or storebought.

Put all the Dampfnudeln ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook fitted and mix until a soft dough forms.  Knead using the mixer for 7 - 10 minutes or until the dough is really smooth.  You can of course mix and knead the dough by hand but I was short on time and patience so on this occasion let my mixer do the work for me.  Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with greased clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, this took about an hour in a warm kitchen. 

Once the dough has risen, knock it back and then divide it into 12 equal portions and shape into balls.  I weighed mine to make sure they were all equal and each of the 12 balls weighed 75g.  

Put the poaching liquid ingredients into a wide heavy based saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and the butter melted.  Take the pan off the heat and add the dough balls.  All the dough balls need to be touching the base of the saucepan in a single layer.  Put the lid on the saucepan and leave the dough balls to rise in the warm liquid for 15 minutes. 

After 15 minutes, put the saucepan back onto a low heat and cook the dumplings for 20 minutes before you are tempted to remove the lid.  A glass lidded saucepan would've been very handy but sadly mine was a cast iron saucepan and the lid was most definitely not see through.  After 20 - 25 minutes remove the lid and cook the dumplings uncovered for 5 - 10 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the base of each dumpling is golden and caramelised.  

Serve the dumplings with warmed custard and plum sauce.  

Many thanks to Tesco who provided me with a Giftcard to purchase some items for this bake.  You can check out their baking recipes here.  

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