Bavarian Dumplings/ Dampfnudel (eggless recipe)

This month's host of International Food Challenge, Saraswathi Tharagaram (Sara's Yummy Bites) is taking us on a culinary tour of Bavaria region in Germany. Germany is located in Western Europe. The topography of the country is varied, and includes regions of deep forest and high mountains, as well as a wide valley surrounding the Rhine, Germany's largest river. The highest mountain peak, the Zugspitze, lies on the border with Austria. Less than 3 percent of Germans are farmers, and the country must import much of its food. Apples, pears, cherries, and peaches, as well as grapes for wine production, are important crops in Germany. 
German regional cuisine can be divided into many varieties such as Bavarian cuisine (southern Germany), Thuringian (central Germany), Lower Saxon cuisine or those of Saxony-Anhalt. For this month we going to try Bavarain cuisine from Southern Germany. 

The origins of Bavarian cuisine are rural. The cuisine typically includes many meat and Knödel dishes, and the prominent use of flour. The Bavarian dukes, especially the Wittelsbach family, developed Bavarian cuisine and refined it to be presentable to the royal court. This cuisine has belonged to wealthy households, especially in cities, since the 19th century. Some the traditional recipes I have listed below. Hope you all like it.

I chose to make Bavarian Dumplings from Saraswathi's list of yummy Bavarian dishes. These are actually bread or buns steam baked in milk mixture. These are like the Coconut Buns (Pani Popos), but use regular milk instead of coconut milk for baking. I halved the recipe that she gave us and made it eggless by using egg replacer instead of egg. I used some wholewheat pastry flour, but on hind site I shouldn't have because that made the dumplings a little tougher and not so fluffy and soft. Also I baked these in a non-stick baking pan, if I had baked them in a cast iron skillet, I could have finished baking on the stove top to get the golden brown bottom. Here's how I made these dumplings:

Recipe adapted from here:
Ingredients:

For the Dumplings:
All purpose flour - 2cups (add some wholewheat pastry flour for added fiber)
Milk - ½cup (I used Soymilk, but any dairy or non-dairy milk would work)
Sugar - 1tbsp
Egg replacer - 1tbsp whisked in 3tbsp water (equivalent to 1 egg)
Lemon zest - 1tsp (from half a lemon)
Salt - 1tsp

For the Poaching Liquid:
Milk - ½cup
Sugar - 2tbsp
Vanilla crush - ½tsp (or use 1 scraped vanilla bean)
Butter - 2tbsp

For the Vanilla Sauce:
Heavy Cream - ½cup
Vanilla crush - ½tsp (or use 1 scraped vanilla bean)
Sugar - 2~3tbsp (adjust as per taste)

Method:

• Make the Dough for Dumplings: Combine all the ingredients. Knead for 4~5 minutes until a soft, pliable dough forms. Cover and rest for 1 hour or until the dough is double in size.
• Make the Poaching Liquid: Heat the milk with butter and sugar until both butter and sugar is melted. Cool the mixture and stir in vanilla crush. If using vanilla bean, then scrape the seeds out and add to the milk mixture along with the bean while heating. Discard the bean.
• Spray a 9"x9" square baking dish or a cast iron skillet. 
• Once the dough is doubled in volume, punch it down gently and divide it into 9 equal pieces. Place the pieces in the prepared baking pan or skillet. Cover and let rise for another 40~60 minutes or until doubled.
• In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Pour the poaching liquid on the dumplings and cover the pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10~15 minutes or until the top of the dumplings are golden. If using a cast iron skillet, place the skillet on the stove and cook for 8~10 minutes to brown the bottoms. Cool slighlty before serving.
• For the Vanilla Sauce: I have seen recipes using vanilla pudding mix to make the vanilla sauce. I kept it really simple and added the vanilla crush to the cream, refrigerated it for a little bit, then beat it until light and fluffy along with sugar.
• To Serve: Serve the dumplings with vanilla sauce or jam or even chocolate sauce (my son loved this combo)!!