RASPBERRY, RHUBARB AND CUSTARD BRIOCHES
We first came across brioche served as fresh fruit buns at Alice Trent’s bakery in Connecticut. It was summer, and she had crushed fresh local raspberries into the buns by hand before baking. We loved the combination of tender brioche dough and tart summer fruit sprinkled with sugar, and when we returned we added these delicious buns to the GAIL’s repertoire.
INGREDIENTS
½ quantity brioche dough (see here), after its second rise overnight in the fridge
250g rhubarb, cut in 3cm pieces
50g sugar
egg wash (see here)
1 quantity pastry cream (see here)
1 quantity crumble topping (see here)
1 punnet of raspberries (about 150g)
icing sugar, for dusting
Makes: 9 little buns
METHOD
To make the brioche buns, take the prepared dough out of the fridge. While it is still cold, use your hands to gently roll it into a sausage shape and cut it into 9 equal pieces. Shape them into little balls by rolling them briefly between the palm of your hand and the worktop. Place these on a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper, leaving 5cm gaps between each one. Put the baking sheet inside a large plastic bag, well-inflated with air so that the bag doesn’t come into contact with the dough, and leave on the worktop to rise for 1½–2 hours until doubled in size.
While the brioche is rising, toss the rhubarb with the sugar and set aside for 20 minutes until the rhubarb starts to give up its juices. Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7, and line a baking sheet with non-stick baking paper (for easy cleaning) then stand a wire rack on it. Arrange the rhubarb on the rack in rows, and bake for 12–14 minutes or until the rhubarb is soft, but still holds its shape. Allow to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 190°C/gas mark 5.
When the brioche buns have risen, remove the plastic bag, take a pastry brush and gently lacquer the buns all over with egg wash. Use two or three fingers to press down gently down into the centre of each bun to create a central well, leaving a generous raised border all around the edge. This will puff up as the buns bake, protecting the filling in the centre.
Drop two generous tablespoons of pastry cream into the well. Top each bun with some rhubarb, sharing the pieces out evenly between the buns, pressing them lightly into the cream. Sprinkle the raw crumble topping around the edge of each brioche and bake for 15–18 minutes until both the dough and the crumble are golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Top with the fresh raspberries, and dust with icing sugar before serving.
VARIATIONS: You can add a spoonful of berry compôte to each bun before you dust over the icing sugar (see here). Or try swapping blueberries for the raspberries and rhubarb: you’ll need 250g fresh blueberries, pressed gently into the pastry cream on top of each bun before baking.
TO MAKE IN ADVANCE: The pastry cream must be made a day in advance, and the rhubarb can be roasted, too. To get much of the work out the way the day before baking, you can form the brioche buns, place them on their baking sheet inside a well-inflated plastic bag, and put the whole thing in the fridge overnight. The next day, take out the fridge, leave to come to room temperature for an hour, then let rise and bake as above.
TO FREEZE: The formed buns can be frozen for up to two weeks. Defrost overnight in the fridge, then leave to come to room temperature for an hour and allow to rise and bake as above.
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