Red Currant Brioche Buns

Fluffy, sugar rolled brioche, filled with vanilla cream cheese, tart red currants, and optionally topped with buttery streusel, these Red Currant Brioche Buns are one of my favorite pastries.

Can you make these pastries in advance?

With almost all brioche dough, it tastes best eaten the day it is baked. That being said the dough itself can be prepped the night before, wrapped up in plastic and stored in the fridge overnight. This still allows the dough to rise but at a much slower rate meaning it won’t over proof and will be ready when you wake up in the morning!

What if I can’t find Red Currants

If you can’t find fresh red currants, frozen currants or raspberry or blueberry jam will work! Apricot or plum compote will work too! I don’t recommend using frozen raspberries or blueberries without turning them into a jam first because they will release too much moisture while baking.

Tips for making Red Currant Brioche Buns

• If you can’t find fresh red currants, frozen currants or raspberry or blueberry jam will work! Apricot or plum compote will work too!
• To cut down on time in the morning, you can make the dough the night before. Once the dough is fully kneaded and wrapped up on the quarter sized baking sheet, it can be kept in the fridge for anywhere from 1 hour to overnight. In the morning take the dough out of the fridge and continue with assembling!
• When making yeasted dough, ensure that you allow your mixer to fully knead the dough, until it forms a smooth ball and the sides of the bowl are cleaned.
• If you want smaller pastries you can always divide the dough into 10 portions instead of 8.
• I like these both with or without streusel so it’s totally up to you!
• Don’t be afraid to really squish down the center of the dough once puffy, the dough is strong and will puff up in the oven so make them bigger and thinner than you think.
• Bake the buns until the edges are golden brown on top, all ovens and pans are different so always go based on look with these!

You may also like…

• Sour Cherry Streusel Pastries
• Lemon Blueberry Streuseltaler
• Red Currant Cake

Ingredients

• Lemon zest: Lemon zest is used in the brioche dough.
• All Purpose Flour: Any all purpose flour will work for these! I have not yet tried any other flours with this recipe.
• Sugar: This recipe uses granulated sugar in all elements of these pastries.
• Yeast: In this recipe, instant yeast is used. However, if you are using active dry, simply whisk it in with the warm milk and let it sit for 10 minutes first and then add in the remaining ingredients.
• Salt: Fine sea salt is used to balance out the sweetness and enhance the flavors.
• Milk: The dough uses whole milk as the liquid in the dough.
• Eggs: I use large eggs from the store. There is one whole egg in the dough and one egg yolk in the cream cheese filling.
• Butter: The butter is used in the dough, the streusel, and for coating the brioche! I recommend salted butter for this.
• Vanilla: A little vanilla extract is used in the dough and the streusel to enhance the flavors as well as vanilla bean paste in the cream cheese filling.
• Cream Cheese: This recipe uses cream cheese as the base of the filling.
• Red Currants: These pastries are topped with red currants but you could swap them with homemade raspberry or blueberry jam, apricot or plum compote!

How to make Red Currant Brioche Buns

Lemon Brioche

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the sugar and the zest of a lemon. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until combined and fragrant.
• Add in the flour and yeast, and whisk to combine.
• Then add in the egg, warm milk, butter, salt and vanilla.
• Use a dough hook to knead everything together on medium low speed for 30 minutes until the dough has smooth edges and the bowl is clean.
• If baking same day, keep the dough in the bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap and place somewhere warm to rise.
• If prepping the dough the night before, line a quarter sized baking sheet with a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape the dough into a rough rectangle that is about an inch thick. Top the dough with another sheet of plastic wrap.
• Place the dough on the sheet pan into the fridge overnight.

Macerated Red Currants

• Rinse and remove the stems from the red currants. Add the berries into a bowl along with the sugar and toss to coat.
• Set aside at room temperature to allow the juices to release and the sugar to start to dissolve.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling

• Into a medium mixing bowl, add in the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, vanilla, and salt.
• Beat on low speed until smooth and combined. You don’t want to whip too much air into it.

Streusel

• *If making* In a medium mixing bowl use a fork to mix together the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt.
• Then add in the flour and use a fork or your fingers to rub the flour into the butter sugar mixture. Set aside until ready to assemble.

Assemble Part 1

• Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
• Divide the proofed dough into 8 equal portions. Shape them into a smooth ball by first flattening out into a disk. Then bring the edges of the disk into the center in a clockwise direction. Flip the ball over so that the seam side is down.
• With your hand in a claw shape, twist each ball on the counter clockwise to create a smooth taught surface.
• Once all 8 have been turned into beautiful little dough balls place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Drape a piece of plastic over the top and set aside to allow them to proof and double in size.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F and place a rack in the center of the oven and one two levels down.
• Pour the melted butter into one shallow bowl and the sugar into another.

Assemble Part 2

• Once the dough balls are puffy, work one at a time. Use your finger tips to press down the center, you want to make little pizzas where most of it is flat but with a 1/2″ border that stays puffy. The easiest way to do this is to lift them up and squish the dough in the center of each circle between your fingers to flatten and stretch it a bit.
• Make sure to leave a bit of a border but remember it’ll puff when you bake them so it’s ok to keep the border small.
• Starting back with the first one you shaped, coat both sides in the melted butter and allow the excess to drip off before transferring it to the bowl with the sugar.
• Coat both sides then lay it back on the baking sheet – repress the center dimple down before moving onto the next.
• Evenly divide the cream cheese between the pastries and use the back of a spoon to gently spread the filling into a flat layer in the well of each pastry.
• Boil a tea kettle full of water, pour it into a metal cake pan. I use an 8″ one but it doesn’t really matter what size you use. Place the pan onto the lower baking rack and close the oven door.
• Top the cream cheese with two spoonfuls of the macerated red currants, press them into the cream cheese as needed with the back of the spoon.
• Last but not least, if you want to add it, crumble the streusel over the currants.

Bake

• Bake for 15 minutes in the hot oven. Then rotate 180 degrees and bake for another 5-10 minutes until just golden brown.
• Remove the pan from the oven and set on a rack to cool for at least 10-15 minutes before serving.

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