Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy-bottomed pot with tight-fitting lid (26-28cm)
• •Medium saucepan for vanilla sauce
• •Stand mixer with dough hook or strong arms for kneading
• •Kitchen scale

Instructions

1. 1

   Activate the yeast

   Warm the 200ml milk until it's lukewarm, body temperature, no hotter. If you can hold your finger in it comfortably, it's right. Stir in a teaspoon of the sugar and crumble or sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Let it sit for ten minutes. You'll see it foam and bubble and start to smell yeasty and alive. If nothing happens, your yeast is dead. Start again with fresh yeast and milk that isn't too hot. Heat kills yeast faster than anything.

   Fresh yeast gives a slightly better rise and a rounder flavor than dried. If you can get it from a bakery, use 20g crumbled into the warm milk.
2. 2

   Make the dough

   Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the remaining sugar, Vanillezucker, and a pinch of salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the foamy yeast mixture, the softened butter, and the two egg yolks. Work everything together with your hands or a wooden spoon until it comes together into a shaggy mass, then turn it out onto a clean surface and knead. This takes eight to ten minutes by hand. The dough will start sticky and annoying. Keep going. It transforms. When it's ready, it should be smooth, elastic, and pull away from the surface cleanly. If you poke it with your finger, it springs back slowly. That's the gluten telling you it's developed enough.

3. 3

   First rise

   Shape the dough into a ball and return it to the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and set it somewhere warm, not hot. The top of the fridge, near a window in the sun, inside an oven that's been warmed for thirty seconds and then turned off. Let it rise until it doubles in size. This takes forty-five minutes to an hour depending on how warm your kitchen is. Don't rush it. The flavor develops during this rise, not just the volume.

   Gretel always said yeast dough needs warmth and time, just like people. A cold kitchen means a longer rise, but the dough will get there eventually.
4. 4

   Shape the Nudeln

   Punch the risen dough down gently. Turn it out and divide it into eight equal pieces. You can weigh them if you like, but eyeballing is fine as long as they're roughly the same size. They need to cook at the same rate. Roll each piece into a smooth, tight ball by cupping it in your palm and rolling it against the work surface with a circular motion. The surface should be completely smooth with no seams or tears. Set the balls on a lightly floured tray, cover again, and let them rest for fifteen minutes. They'll puff up slightly. That's good.

5. 5

   Prepare the pot

   Choose a wide, heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid. This is the most important piece of equipment in the recipe. The lid must seal well because you cannot open it during cooking. Melt the 50g of butter in the pot over medium heat. Add the 150ml of milk, two tablespoons of sugar, and a pinch of salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture just begins to simmer. Small bubbles at the edges, nothing more.

   If your lid doesn't seal tightly, lay a sheet of foil over the pot and press the lid on top. The seal traps the steam that cooks the tops of the Nudeln while the bottoms caramelize. A loose lid means flat, sad dumplings.
6. 6

   Cook the Dampfnudeln

   Carefully place the dough balls into the simmering butter-milk mixture. They should sit snugly but not touching each other. They'll expand. Put the lid on, reduce the heat to low, and do not touch it for twenty minutes. I mean this. Do not lift the lid. Do not peek. The Dampfnudeln are steaming from above and caramelizing from below at the same time, and opening the lid releases the steam they need to puff up into pillowy domes. You'll hear a gentle sizzling sound after about fifteen minutes. That's the liquid evaporating and the butter beginning to caramelize the bottoms. This is the Krustl forming. When you hear it, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and wait another five minutes.

7. 7

   Make the vanilla sauce

   While the Dampfnudeln cook, prepare the Vanillesauce. Split the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape the seeds into 400ml of the milk. (If using Vanillezucker instead of a pod, add it with the sugar.) Heat until small bubbles appear at the edges. In a separate bowl, whisk the three egg yolks with the sugar and cornflour until pale and thick. Add the remaining 100ml of cold milk and whisk smooth. Pour the hot vanilla milk slowly into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return everything to the pot and cook over low heat, stirring without stopping, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. This takes three to four minutes. Don't let it boil or the eggs will scramble and you'll have sweet vanilla rubble instead of sauce.

   If you're nervous about the sauce curdling, keep a fine-mesh sieve nearby. If you see any lumps forming, immediately pour the sauce through it. But if your heat is low and your spoon keeps moving, you'll be fine.
8. 8

   Check the Krustl

   After the full twenty to twenty-five minutes, lift the lid. The Dampfnudeln should be puffed up high, pale and smooth on top, touching each other where they've risen together. Carefully lift one with a spatula and check the bottom. It should be deep golden brown, caramelized, and crisp. That's the Krustl. If it's still pale, put the lid back on for another three minutes over the lowest heat. If it's nearly black, your heat was too high and you'll know for next time.

9. 9

   Serve immediately

   Lift the Dampfnudeln out carefully and set them Krustl-side up on warm plates so everyone can see that golden crust. Pour the warm vanilla sauce generously alongside, not over the top. You want to tear the Dampfnudel open with your spoon and dip the soft, pillowy inside into the sauce yourself. That contrast between the crisp caramelized bottom, the cloud-soft interior, and the cool vanilla cream is thewhole point of this dish. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •The lid is everything. If your pot doesn't have a heavy, tight-fitting lid, this recipe will disappoint you. The steam must stay trapped. Wrap a tea towel around the lid handle to catch condensation, but make sure no fabric touches the flame or heating element.
• •Listen to the pot. For the first fifteen minutes, you'll hear gentle bubbling. When the liquid has mostly evaporated and the butter starts frying the bottoms, the sound changes to a quieter sizzle. That's your signal to drop the heat as low as it goes. If you hear aggressive crackling, it's burning.
• •The Vanillesauce should be loose enough to pool on the plate, not thick like custard. If it gets too thick, whisk in a splash of cold milk to loosen it. Gretel always said a sauce that doesn't move isn't a sauce, it's a mistake.
• •Dampfnudeln are best eaten within minutes of leaving the pot. The Krustl softens as it sits. If you're making these for guests, have the sauce done and the plates warm before you lift that lid.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made and shaped into balls, then refrigerated overnight on a floured tray covered tightly with cling film. Let them come to room temperature for thirty minutes before cooking. The cold rise actually develops more flavor.
• •Vanillesauce can be made up to a day ahead and gently reheated. Press cling film directly onto the surface while it cools to prevent a skin from forming.
• •The actual cooking of the Dampfnudeln cannot be done ahead. They must go from pot to plate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)