Jagodzianki (Wild Blueberry Buns)

Soft, spongy, delicate with plenty of sweet and juicy blueberries inside; that’s jagodzianki, the wild blueberry buns my mother used to bake each July when I was going for my exams in Poland. I missed wild blueberry (or actually bilberry) season in Poland this year. Jagodzianki, however, have kept tempting me with their luscious look for the last three months, appearing one by one on almost all Polish food blogs. Since the season for wild blueberries starts much later in Québec than in Poland, I had to wait with baking them. Only now, when the wild blueberries are in season here, I finally made them too. They came out exactly as my mother's ones, golden outside, soft and delicate inside. Delicious!!!

If you want to make jagodzianki, make sure that the bread crumbs and vanilla sugar you use, do not contain corn or potato starch. The excess of starch would turn the blueberry filling into jelly and you want your blueberries to stay a little juicy. If bread crumbs without starch are not available, reduce the amount of them to one tablespoon, or if the blueberries you use are not very juicy (I find Canadian wild blueberries much less juicy than the Polish ones) omit them completely.

Jagodzianki (Wild Blueberry Buns)

Makes 18-20 buns

FOR THE DOUGH:
½ kg all purpose flour
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp butter
50 g fresh yeast, or 4 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup (250 ml) milk
pinch of salt

FOR THE BLUEBERRY FILLING:
½ kg fresh wild blueberries
2 tbsp bread crumbs
3 tbsp sugar
2 packages (8 gr each) vanilla sugar

egg
1 tbsp milk
sugar

1. Heat the milk over low heat until slightly warm, but not hot.
2. Place the yeast in a bowl (if you use fresh yeast, crumble them). Add the heated milk, 1 tablespoon of the sugar and 1 tablespoon of the flour. Stir to combine and dissolve. Cover with plastic wrap or dishtowel and set aside for about 10 minutes in a warm place.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick and pale.
4. Melt the butter.
5. Sift the flour to a large bow, add pinch of salt, then pour in the yeast mixture. Stir to combine.
6. Add the egg mixture and melted butter. Stir until well combined.
7. Knead the dough until smooth and no longer sticks to your hands. Shape the dough into a ball. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap or dishtowel and leave to rise for about 1 hour.
8. Place the blueberries in a bowl. Combine with sugar, vanilla sugar and bread crumbs.
9. Divide the dough into 18-20 equal pieces. Form ball from each of the piece. Flatten on your hand. Spoon the filling into the center of each circle. Raise edges of dough and pinch together over filling, then roll between palms snowball fashion to form balls.
10. Place on greased baking sheet. Cover with a dishtowel and let rise for about 20 – 30 minutes.
11. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Just before baking whisk the egg with milk and brush on the buns, sprinkle with some sugar.
13. Bake for 20 minutes, or until buns are golden.

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Recipe in Polish:
Jagodzianki