What? You say that doesn’t look British? You’re correct, it’s not, it’s German, but it’s in the cookbook, so it’s fair game.
What is a dampfnudeln? It’s a cross between a steamed bun and a dumpling, and I do love a big fluffy dumpling! This recipe is on page 139 of The Great British Bake Off, Perfect Cakes and Bakes to Make at Home and https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/dampfnudel_36590. When I did a google search, I found out there are both sweet and savory recipes for dampfnudeln. I’ll try the savory later, but we made the sweet version for our August bake.
My friend Martina who was born and raised in Germany (and makes me drool when she visits her parents and posts pics of the glorious German meals) said her mom made these as she was growing up.
Eric’s in poaching sauce and ready to steam. 
Eric’s finished product.
There are several different components to this recipe, but don’t let it intimidate you, just focus on one at a time and you will be done in no time. The dampfnudeln itself is a pretty basic yeast bread. Make that and set it to rise, and then move on to your sauces. (You may notice the lack of sauce pictures, my apologies…was totally into the making process and zoned out on the picture taking process.) My plums were not quite ripe (I have a hard time picking out fruit for prime ripeness) so my plum sauce was a little tart. I added more sugar, just a little at a time until I no longer made the pucker face when I tasted it. It’s a very nice sauce….almost an apple butter consistency and would be a good pairing on biscuits or pancakes in my opinion. Next, the vanilla sauce, which would be good on anything and some people told me they wanted to drink it right out of the bowl, no dampfnudeln necessary. I had one and then the rest went to work with my husband where it was a big hit at the Monday morning meeting. I don’t normally take my bakes to my office because everyone is trying to lose weight….including me. After all that is ready, the last component to assemble is the poaching sauce.
Mine in the poaching sauce. 
My finished product, I think I should have used a bigger pan.
Form your dampfnudeln balls, put them in the poaching sauce and cook. Mine and Eric’s were both pretty dense, but the picture in the book looks dense too so I think we did okay. Next time, I might let them rise a little longer and see if that makes a difference in fluffiness.
Not pretty…. 
…but they were good!
Would I make them again? Yes, I think they would be great for a get-together. That plum sauce I will make for other uses also. Happy Baking!