Almond Cream Brioche Buns

I really like a light and fluffy brioche.  And laminated dough is still my nemesis.  I did try a laminated brioche loaf...  Fail...  Sigh.  (Though it did make lovely french toast.) So I did a little bit of lamination cheating and used layers of almond filling!

Now this dough will make a nice little brioche loaf too if you don't feel like taking on the slightly messy filling process.  It's also a pretty forgiving dough!  I was letting it double and popped it in a cold oven with light on when it was already close to done.  But then I forgot about it.  Maybe an hour later, the entire family from upstairs to downstairs heard a large BLAM! from the kitchen.  What in the world??  What happened?  "What was that??"  "I don't know mom, but the cats are staring at the oven..."  Oh.  I know what that was.  That was my dough exploding out of the dough container into the oven.  Whoopsie doodles!  Fortunately it was a container that had very little more room than doubling.  Maybe double and a half.  So I scooped it all back in from the outsides of the container and lid, and let it rest for 15 minutes.  And it was rarin' to go.

These buns are a nice treat, rich but not overly sweet, and the filling bakes up cake-like in between the layers.  I particularly like them warm, with butter on top!

Almond Cream Brioche Buns
makes 8 buns
 
Dough:
¾ cup (175g) whole milk
3 tbsp (40g) unsalted butter cut into small cubes
2 tsp (9g) instant yeast
3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (58g) granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

Almond Cream Filling:
½ cup (113g) unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup (105g) granulated sugar
1 cup (105g) almond meal or almond flour (almond flour may require a little more)
1 tbsp (9g) all-purpose flour
2 large eggs at room temperature (extra large eggs will likely be too much, try one plus a yolk)
1 tsp pure almond extract

Topping:
egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water)
sliced or slivered almonds
powdered sugar for dusting optional‍

Simple Syrup:
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp water

For the dough:
Heat the milk and butter slightly in the microwave or a small saucepan, until the mixture reaches 90°F. Add to the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached. Whisk in the yeast.

Add the flour, sugar, salt, and then eggs to the bowl. Mix on low speed until the dough binds together, then stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue mixing for about 5 minutes, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl and is very smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times while kneading.

Shape dough into a ball cover with plastic, and allow it to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 - 1 ½ hours.

Almond Cream Filling:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Add the almond flour, all-purpose flour, eggs, and almond extract and mix until fully combined. Set aside until ready to assemble.

Assembly:
Line two half sheet baking pans with parchment paper. Once the dough has risen, remove it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press out any air bubbles.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle measuring approximately 15 x 20”. Spread the almond filling onto two-thirds of the dough, leaving one-third without filling. Don't make the filling too thick or rolling up the twists will be quite messy.

A little thinner than this, or rolling the dough slightly larger will be better

Fold the shorter ends of the dough into thirds like a letter: first, fold the empty ⅓ of the dough onto the center ⅓ of the dough, then fold the remaining ⅓ end over that. Lightly roll out the dough again, until it measures about 8” wide (across the shorter side). If the dough and filling feel too soft to work with, place the folded dough in the freezer for 10 minutes.

 

Use a pizza cutter or large knife to trim the edges of the dough as needed to create clean, straight edges. Cut the dough in half lengthwise then cut each of those pieces into four strips for a total of eight long strips. Starting at one end, roll up each strip into a tight bun, tucking the end underneath to secure. Transfer the buns to the prepared pans, four to a sheet. Loosely cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  (I took the trimmed edges and wound them up with any spilled filling from the other buns and baked them as well for testers.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush the buns lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with sliced or slivered almonds. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. While buns are cooling, make the simple syrup.

Simple Syrup:
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and lightly brush over the cooled buns.

Dust with powdered sugar if desired, and enjoy! Very good slightly heated.

Be sure to check out some more brioche creations:

• Almond Cream Brioche Buns from A Messy Kitchen
• Brioche Pull-Apart Loaf from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Classic Brioche à Tête from Food Lust People Love
• Individual Orange Cranberry Brioche from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Single Rise Brioche Dinner Rolls from Sneha's Recipe

 

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