This is a great traditional breakfast pastry akin to the American cinnamon roll in its pinwheel construction. A sheet of croissant dough is spread with sweet pastry cream and sprinkled with rum soaked raisins, then rolled, sliced, and baked. Feel free to vary the components— exchanging dried cranberries for the raisins, for instance, or almond cream for the pastry cream—or to add nuts.
Ingredients
- ½ recipe Croissant Dough
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp (140 g) Pastry Cream
- Rum-Soaked Raisins, drained
- Egg Wash
How to Make It
- Spray two sheet pans with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper.
- Lightly flour the work surface. Roll the dough out to a 19-by-9-inch rectangle. Turn the dough so a short end is toward you. Spread the pastiy cream evenly over the dough. Sprinkle the raisins on top. The surface will be dense with raisins, but they should not overlap.
- Lift the side of the dough nearest you and roll up the dough as compactly as possible, pressing gently on the roll as it spreads, ending with the seam side down. Trim the ends if needed. Cut the roll into 10 pieces, ¾ to 1 inch wide each.
- Transfer to the prepared sheet pans, spacing the rolls about 2 inches apart and tucking the end of each one under to keep it from unraveling as it proofs and bakes. Brush with egg wash. Cover the sheet pans with plastic tubs or cardboard boxes and let proof for 1 to 1½ hours. When the dough is delicately pressed with a finger, the impression should remain.
- Position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (convection) or 375°F (standard).
- Brush the pastries again with egg wash. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in a convection oven, 17 to 22 minutes in a standard oven, rotating the pans once halfway through baking, until the tops are a rich golden brown and no portions, particularly between the layers, look undercooked. Set on a cooling rack and cool completely.
- Pains aux raisins are best the day they are baked, but they can be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 month.
