Pain au Raisin

So unbelievably good. This version from my pro baking class is made with brioche dough.

Brioche dough always needs to slow rise for twelve hours in the refrigerator, so plan on making the dough the night before.

One recipe brioche

pastry cream

3/4 c. raisins

1/4 c. brandy or rum

Brioche

In a Kitchen Aid bowl, combine:

1 T. dry yeast (not rapid rise)

1/2 c. warm water

Let rest for 5 minutes.

Add:

3 1/2 c. AP flour

1 T. sugar

1 t. salt

5 eggs

Mix on low for ten minutes...

...until smooth, and mix in 8 oz. butter until fully combined.

Put the very sticky brioche dough in a ziplock plastic bag. Place in the refrigerator to rise for about 12 hours.

After rising the dough for twelve hours, squeeze the dough out onto a floured work space. Gently flour the outside of the dough, being very careful not to knead additional flour into the dough.

Let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make pastry cream (can be made the day before).

1/3 c. cornstarch

1/2 c. sugar

2 egg yolks

pinch of salt

1 c. milk

2 t. vanilla extract

Combine cornstarch, sugar, yolks, and salt in a bowl.

Heat the milk in a small non-reactive sauce pan to just below a simmer. Temper (slowly add the hot milk so as not to cook the eggs) the hot milk into the cornstarch mixture until smooth. Add the mixture back to the sauce pan. Cook on medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat, then add the vanilla. Strain and cool.

Soak the raisins in brandy or in 1/2 c. hot water.

Roll the brioche dough out to an approximate 12x15 rectangle.

Spread the pastry cream evenly over dough.

Sprinkle the brandy-soaked raisins evenly over pastry cream.

Roll the dough from the widest end.

Cut the dough cylinder crosswise into 8-10 pieces (depending on how large you want your pan aux raisins). Arrange on a parchment-lined sheet pan.

Let the pan aux raisins proof for an additional hour, then bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes. Check the pain aux raisins at the 10 minute point, and if they are not browning at all, increase the baking temperature to 350 and decrease the cooking time by 5 minutes.

Cool and serve room temperature.