Golden Dumplings with Vanilla Sauce

In a small bowl, combine 100 ml of lukewarm milk with 1 tsp of sugar and the crumbled yeast. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes until foamy. In a large bowl, mix the flour, remaining sugar, salt, and grated lemon zest. Add the activated yeast, remaining lukewarm milk, egg yolks, and melted butter. Knead into a smooth, elastic dough (about 10 minutes). Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

After rising, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it to about 1 cm thickness. Use a 4-5 cm round cookie cutter or glass to cut out circles. Melt 100 g of butter. In another bowl, mix the ground walnuts with the powdered sugar. Dip each dough circle into the melted butter, then coat it in the walnut-sugar mixture. Arrange the dumplings tightly next to each other in layers in a greased round baking dish, about 24-26 cm in diameter.

Cover the dish and let it rise for another 30 minutes in a warm place. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C for convection ovens). Bake the golden dumplings for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. If the top browns too quickly, cover it with aluminum foil.

While the dumplings are baking, prepare the vanilla sauce. In a saucepan, heat the milk with the scraped seeds from the vanilla bean (or vanilla extract). In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and cornstarch until smooth. When the milk starts to simmer, remove it from the heat and slowly pour it into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan and thicken over low heat, stirring continuously, until it reaches a creamy consistency (about 5-7 minutes). Do not boil! Remove the vanilla bean.

Serve the freshly baked golden dumplings immediately, generously drizzled with the warm vanilla sauce. Enjoy!