If you’re planning on baking anything this week, make sure you give this recipe a go! These are soft apple brioche buns filled with vanilla pastry cream, caramelised cinnamon apples and topped with crumble. They have received so many compliments and I am so excited to share the recipe with you today.
Ingredients:
Brioche buns dough:
- 30g fresh yeast
- 210g whole milk
- 490g plain flour
- 2 egg yolks
- 100g + 20g granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 55g unsalted butter
Tangzhong:
- 75g water
- 15g plain flour
Eggwash:
Egg + a tablespoon of milk
Vanilla pastry cream:
- 400g + 50g whole milk
- Seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod
- 3 egg yolks
- 75g granulated sugar
- 45g potato starch
- 25g plain flour
Crumble:
- 75g plain flour
- 55g granulated sugar
- 45g butter – melted
Caramelised apples:
- 210g apples (I used Braeburn)
- 30g light brown sugar
- 25g unsalted butter
- 15g lemon juice
- Teaspoon of cinnamon powder
- 5g potato starch
Lemon icing (optional)
- 60g icing sugar
- 15g lemon juice
- Splash of water – if needed.
Instructions:
Brioche:
Preparing the yeast
- Place the fresh yeast and 20g of sugar in a medium measuring jug. Stir these with a spoon until a smooth paste is formed and leave aside for now. Place the milk in a saucepan over a low heat until it reaches 38C. Take of the heat and pour about 80g of the lukewarm milk into the yeast mixture, add 10g of flour and stir together. The rest of the milk will be added to the dough ingredients in the next step. Cover the jug with cling film and leave to let the yeast activate/rise in a warm place for about 15-20mins – it should double in size. If the kitchen/room isn’t warm enough, I tend to switch on the lightbulb (no temp, just the light) in my oven at the start of this step and then place the jug inside when the mixture is prepared, close the oven door and let it rise there.
- Prepare the tangzhong mixture (this helps the dough stay softer for longer): place water & flour in a small pan, stir until smooth, place over a low heat and cook whilst stirring until a thick paste forms – it will happen pretty quickly. Take off heat and let it cool a little.
- In the meantime place the rest of the ingredients – excluding the butter – in the bowl of your stand mixer (remember to add the rest of the milk as well as the tangzhong mixture).
- Once the yeast mixture has doubled in size, add it to the mixing bowl and start mixing everything using the dough hook for about 10-15mins.
- After this time add the softened butter and keep mixing for a few more minutes until the dough becomes soft and elastic.
- Move the prepared dough to a big bowl that is lightly greased with a little bit of oil. Cover the bowl with cling film and let it sit in a warm place for about 1.5-2hrs. If I am not baking anything else, I just let it rest in the oven with the lightbulb on. The dough should double in size.
- In the meantime prepare the rest of the below.
The continuation of the dough instructions is at the end of the recipe.
Vanilla pastry cream:
Whilst your dough is rising, prepare the pastry cream.
- Place the egg yolks, 50g milk, potato starch and flour in a measuring jug and whisk until combined. Leave to one side while you do the next step.
- Place 400g of milk, seeds from the vanilla pod and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat, stirring every now and then to keep the milk from burning at the bottom of the pan. Take off the heat.
- Slowly pour half of the hot milk over the egg mixture whilst stirring briskly until combined.
- Put the saucepan back on the stove over a low heat and pour the tempered egg mixture back into it while whisking quickly using a hand whisk. This is to avoid any lumps from forming. Let it cook whilst still whisking until the pastry cream becomes thick.
- Transfer into a container/bowl, cover with cling film and press down that it touches the pastry cream and therefore prevents a skin from forming on the top. Leave to cool a little.
Caramelised apples:
- Chop the apples into small squares.
- Place all the ingredients for caramelised apples in a big pan over a medium heat and let it all cook for a few minutes, stirring from time to time.
- Once the apples get a little softer, take off the stove and let them cool a little.
Crumble:
- Place flour and sugar in a bowl.
- Melt the butter in a microwave (no need to cool) and pour it into the bowl. Using a fork, stir everything until combined – the mixture should start forming into crumbs. You can then use your fingers to squeeze smaller crumbs together to create a few thicker crumbs – totally up to you.
- Place in the fridge for now.
Putting it all together:
- Preheat your oven to 180C – no fan.
- Line the oven tray with baking paper. Once your dough has doubled in size, remove the cling film and ‘knock out’ the dough with your hand to let out the air. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 balls (I like to weigh them out using a kitchen scale). Roll each of them into a ball, place on the prepared oven tray making sure to leave some space between them. I usually place & bake 6 of them at a time.
- Prepare the egg wash. Using a fork, whisk together the egg and a tablespoon of milk.
- Using a measuring cup or a slim glass of about 4-5cm in diameter (cover the bottom with some flour) make a dent in each bun – about 3/4 of the way.
- Transfer the vanilla pastry cream into a piping bag – no nozzle needed, just cut a 1cm hole at the bottom.
- Fill each dent in the buns with the pastry cream and brush the dough with the prepared egg-wash.
- Top with about a tablespoon of caramelised apples and sprinkle with crumble. Let them proof in a warm place for about 20mins.
- Bake for about 18mins.
Lemon icing (optional)
- Combine icing sugar and lemon juice in a cup and stir together. If the icing is too thick, add a splash of water. If too thin, a little bit more icing sugar. Using a spoon, drizzle the icing over the buns.
Happy Baking! 🙂
As always, if you make these delicious apple brioche buns, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! 🙂
