German sweet dumplings with vanilla sauce (dampfnudel)

According to local legend, these delicate yeast dumplings poached in milk and sugar, once spared a small German town from being plundered by a Swedish army. The invaders said they would leave in peace if they were fed sufficiently. So the town baker set to work with the few ingredients on hand (milk, flour, eggs), and created the dampfnudel, sating their hunger and saving his town.