Pain au Raisins
I've successfully ticked the homemade croissants, the pain au chocolat and now it's time for the wonderful pain au raisins recipe - my favourite! The first time I tried authentic pains au raisins was in the coffee shop of the Orsay Museum in Paris. It might have also been because of the impression I had after visting the museum, but their taste, flavour and texture went straight to my heart. They are actually rolls with vanilla cream and raisins/cranberries but the layered, fluffy and flavourful pastry makes them different from the classic vanilla rolls.
I reproduced the recipe at home and I do recommend trying it, the pains au raisins don't require so much work as the croissants and, if you ask me, the result is even more spectacular. You only need to prepare in advance 2-3 portions of croissant dough which stays well in the freezer. Whenever you need or you are in the mood for it, you can quickly prepare these pastry rolls with vanilla cream and raisins/cranberries.
First you need to make the croissant pastry - it's a puff pastry, but it contains yeast. You can find the recipe on my website.
I like to make it the day before or even sooner and keep it in the fridge or the freezer (if it's more than 2-3 days).
I normally make the quick milk buttercream recipe, in the microwaves, but you can also do the vanilla fiiling it the classic way, on the stovetop. You can find this recipe as well on my website..
Prepare the cream and let cool for 2-3 hours.
When the pastry is ready and the cream is cooled, we set down to work.
Roll the dough out into a thin 24x40cm rectangle, you can see how I make it in my croissants or pain au chocolat recipe.
Spread vanilla cream evenly across the surface of the rectangle making sure you leave 1cm from the border.
Scatter evenly the washed and dried raisins over the filling.
Roll the dough into a log.
Then cut crosswise into slices of about 1.5-2cm width.
Carefully transfer the rolls to the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Notice we leave some space between them.
Gently press each roll with your fingers to flatten them a bit, but without making them too thin.
Let rise for 2 hours, then brush the tops of the rounds with raw egg white.
Bake in the preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes, then for another 5-10 minutes at 180 degrees C. Time may vary a bit depending on each oven, just make the necessary adjustments.
Let cool for a bit, then serve. Watch out, they are dangerously good and it's hard to stop eating...
Enjoy!
