Sweet dough dishes
sweet dumplings with blueberries
regional variant tradition
Šaltanosiai, blueberries, dumplings, summer berries, sweet sauce, sour cream
Šaltanosiai, Virtinukai with blueberries
Šaltnosiai or šaltanosiai?
Both forms of the name are used, but the form šaltanosiai is more common in recipe searches. This page keeps the user's chosen name and also names the more frequent spelling.
The name is associated with sweet berry dumplings. It is a witty Aukštaitian name for dumplings filled with blueberries, bog bilberries, or black currants, whose dark color shows through the thin dough.
Because spelling varies, it is useful for the page to use both forms: some readers will search for šaltnosiai, others for šaltanosiai, but culinarily they expect the same dish.
Blueberry filling
Blueberries are the classic filling, but other berries can be used. The key is not to overfill, so the dumplings do not burst and leak.
Sour cream and sugar balance the berries' acidity.
Summer berry dumplings
Šaltnosiai belong to the same family as virtiniai, but their character comes not from filling cheese or meat but from juicy summer berries.
Because of that, they can be eaten as a sweet main dish, especially in summer when blueberries are fresh and do not need long cooking or processing. Blueberries, the most common filling, are especially abundant in the pine forests of southeastern Lithuania and Dzūkija, so šaltnosiai are often associated with forest-berry country.
Technique matters more here than a long ingredient list: thin but strong dough, a small amount of berries, and tightly sealed edges.
Recipe
How to make šaltnosiai
Berry filling tends to leak, so it is important to use only a small amount of blueberries and seal the edges very well.
Ingredients
- 350 g flour
- 1 egg
- 160-190 ml water
- A pinch of salt
- 300 g blueberries
- 2-3 tbsp sugar
- Sour cream or butter for serving
Method
- Knead a dough from flour, egg, water, and salt. Let it rest.
- Mix the blueberries with sugar just before shaping.
- Roll out the dough, cut circles, and add a small amount of berries to each.
- Seal the edges well.
- Boil in salted water until they rise, then cook a few minutes more.
- Serve with sour cream, butter, or sugar.
Notes
Use frozen berries while still frozen so they leak less.
