Jagodzianki

Polish enriched yeast buns filled with wild bilberries and vanilla sugar, from the Mazovian and Podlasie bakery tradition

Origin: Mazovia and Podlasie, Poland

From the journey of Blueberry.

Jagodzianki (singular: jagodzianki, from jagody, meaning berries) are the Polish summer bun of the bilberry harvest: an enriched yeast dough filled with wild borówki czarne (Vaccinium myrtillus, the wild bilberry that grows across the forests of north-eastern Poland from July onwards), dusted with icing sugar, and eaten warm from the bakery. They are the most distinctive Polish expression of the bilberry in its natural season, and in the regions of Mazovia, Podlasie, and the Białystok area they are as much a seasonal event as a food product. The bakeries of Warsaw have sold jagodzianki since at least the late nineteenth century, and the seasonal queue outside a good jagodzianki bakery in late July is a Varsovian ritual. The buns are made from a brioche-adjacent enriched dough, softer and less buttery than French brioche but richer than an ordinary milk bun, and the filling is simply raw wild bilberries tossed with sugar: no cooking, no jamming. The fruit bursts during baking, staining the interior of the dough a deep violet and releasing a juice that soaks into the crumb. A jagodzianki is always eaten fresh and warm; a day-old bun is a different and lesser thing. Outside the bilberry season, they are occasionally made with cultivated blueberries, but the flavour lacks the concentrated tartness of the wild berry, and the colour is a paler blue rather than the deep violet-black of true borówki.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 500 g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 7 g fast-action dried yeast (1 sachet)
  • 50 g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 250 ml whole milk, lukewarm
  • 2 large eggs
  • 80 g unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling

  • 400 g wild bilberries or dark wild blueberries, fresh (not frozen)
  • 3 tbsp caster sugar, for the filling

Finishing

  • 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar, for dusting

Method

  1. Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the lukewarm milk, eggs, and vanilla and mix to a rough dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add the softened butter in small pieces and knead for a further 5 to 7 minutes until the dough is soft, glossy, and passes the windowpane test.
  2. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and leave to prove in a warm place for 1 to 1.5 hours until doubled in size.
  3. Toss the bilberries gently with the caster sugar in a bowl. Set aside. Line two baking trays with baking parchment.
  4. Knock back the dough and divide into 12 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time and keeping the rest covered, roll each into a round about 12 cm in diameter. Place 2 heaped tablespoons of sugared bilberries in the centre. Gather the edges of the dough up and over the berries and pinch firmly to seal, forming a neat round ball.
  5. Place the filled buns seam-side down on the prepared trays, spaced well apart. Cover loosely and leave to prove for 30 to 45 minutes until visibly puffed. Brush with egg wash.
  6. Preheat the oven to 190°C (fan 170°C). Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until deeply golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on the base. Cool for 5 minutes on a rack, then dust generously with icing sugar.
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