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.

Print the recipe

Recipe in Polish:
Jagodzianki

Easter Braided Bread

This bread is something my family is always looking forward most on our Easter table. I made it first a few years ago using a recipe from a magazine – I can’t remember now what exactly was the magazine. The bread is truly wonderful, tender and fluffy; filled with a whole range of grains it’s just a wonderful combination of textures and flavors.


Easter Braided Bread

600 g flour
20 g fresh yeast (also known as compressed yeast or cake yeast)
2 tbsp sugar
1- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
375 ml (1 ½ cup) slightly warm water

100 g carrots, grated
2 tbsp pistachios, chopped
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp sunflower seeds

3 tbsp finely ground almonds
1 tbsp sesame seeds

1. Crumble the yeast in a large bowl. Add 100 g of flour, 1 teaspoon of sugar and all the water. Stir to combine. Cover with a dishtowel or plastic wrap and set aside for 30 min.
2. In a big bowl combine the remaining flour, sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Fold in the yeast mixture; knead to form dense, smooth dough. Cover the bowl with a dishtowel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for another 30 min.
3. When the dough’s doubled in size, knead for 1-2 minutes, then divide into three equal parts.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 C (390 F).
5. Combine the grated carrots, pistachios, lemon juice, and ginger together. Add to one part of the dough, knead until the carrots are incorporated. Add more flour if sticky.
6. Knead the second part of the dough with poppy seeds and sunflower seeds and the third part with ground almonds and sesame seeds.
7. Roll each piece into a long strand. Lay the strands side by side and gently braid them.
8. Place the woven dough in a wreath shape on a greased cookie sheet, tucking the ends under. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
9. Brush with water. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Przepis po polsku:
Wielkanocny warkocz

Traditional Polish doughnuts

One of my New Year’s resolutions this year was to cook something Polish once a month. Since yesterday was Fat Thursday in Poland, it was a perfect time to make Polish pączki. Let me explain. Fat Thursday is the last Thursday before the Lent, which is celebrated in Poland by eating enormous amounts of Polish doughnuts called pączki. Pączki are similar to American jelly-filled doughnuts, but unlike the American doughnuts, which are usually very sweet and filled with lots of jelly after frying, Polish doughnuts are filled with only a little of the filling which is placed inside the doughnut before it is fried. The most common filling is jam, but there are places in Poland where you can also buy pączki filled with advocaat custard. My grandmother, who makes delicious doughnuts, usually fills them with powidła, which is a common filling for homemade doughnuts. Pączki are usually covered with powdered sugar or icing and, sometimes, topped with candied orange peel.

Even though pączki are available in Poland all year-round, Fat Thursday is actually the only time in the year when I eat some. My favorite doughnuts are the ones filled with rose hip jam, which is the most popular Fat-Thursday filling. I usually buy the doughnuts in a bakery, but since Tartelette and Peabody have organized Time to Make the Doughnuts food blog event this year, I thought it’s a great opportunity to learn how to make Polish doughnuts myself. They’re probably longer to make and harder to fill than American doughnuts, but believe me that the effort is rewarding. My doughnuts came out wonderful, very light, tender and absolutely delicious!!!

A few notes to the recipe: The recipe calls for fresh yeast, if you have trouble finding them, I suspect active dry yeast might work well, (I haven’t tried it yet). While searching the Internet for Polish doughnuts recipe, I have found many simplified recipes which use less egg yolks and no alcohol. Do not reduce the amount of the egg yolks!!! The doughnuts which contain more yolks eggs absorb less oil. Also alcohol when incorporated into doughnut dough reduces the absorption of frying oil. Most of Polish doughnut recipes call for rectified spirit, feel free to use vodka or rum instead. Before frying, make sure the oil is hot enough. Test the temperature by frying a piece of dough; if it floats up immediately and turns golden quickly, you can start frying. To keep the oil temperature constant while frying, fry only a few doughnuts at a time. Crowding will lower the oil’s temperature and produce greasy doughnuts. I filled my doughnuts with rose hip jam, but feel free to use the filling of your choice.

Pączki (Traditional Polish doughnuts)
Makes 3 dozen medium doughnuts

FOR THE DOUGHNUTS:
1 kg flour
100 g fresh yeast (also known as compressed yeast or cake yeast)
75 g sugar
½ liter (2 cups) milk
8 yolk eggs
100 g unsalted butter, melted
16 g vanilla sugar
50 ml rectified spirit or vodka
orange rind, grated
pinch of salt
1 liter of vegetable oil for deep -frying

FOR THE FILLING:
350 g rose hip jam mixed with 2 tablespoons rum (optional)

FOR THE ICING:
350 g icing sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
water
candied orange peel to decorate

1. Heat 250 ml (1 cup) of the milk over low heat until slightly warm, but not hot (too hot milk will kill the yeast).
2. Crumble the yeast in a large bowl. Add the heated milk, 1 tablespoon of the sugar and 5 tablespoons of the flour. Stir to combine and dissolve. Cover with dishtowel and set aside in a warm place. Let rise until spongy.
3. Place the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt and 2 tbsp of slightly warm (but not hot) water in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until fluffy and pale.
4. Add the egg mixture, the remaining milk, the alcohol, and orange rind to the yeast mixture and stir until all the ingredients are well combined.
5. Pour the liquid into the sifted flour and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. If the mixture is too dry add more milk.
6.Knead the dough by hand for at least 20 minutes or until smooth and soft. The softer the doughnut dough, the more tender the doughnuts will be.
7. Gradually add the melted butter and continue kneading until the dough incorporates it and is no longer sticky.
8. Shape the dough into a ball. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with a dishtowel and leave in a warm place until doubled (about 1 hour).
9. Place half of the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour and, using a rolling pin, roll to a thickness of 1/2-inch.
10. Using a drinking glass or round cookie cutter, cut circles (approximately 3 inches in diameter).
11. Spoon about 3/4 teaspoon of 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.
12. Transfer the doughnuts to a parchment lined baking sheet (do not flour the baking sheet). Cover with a dishtowel, and let rise in warm place until doubled.
13. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
14. Heat the oil over medium heat in a deep heavy frying pan. Use enough oil that doughnuts can float freely (about 2,5 inches). Test the temperature by frying a small piece of dough; it should bubble and float up immediately.
15. Fry 3 doughnuts at a time. Cook on each side until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Then remove to drain on paper towels.
16. To make the icing, sift icing sugar into a bowl. Mix through 2 tablespoon lemon juice, then gradually add enough water to obtaining a mixture with a suitable consistency to spread. Spread over the doughnuts with a brush. Top each of the doughnuts with candied orange peel.

Przepis po polsku:
Tradycyjne polskie pączki