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a strawberry vanilla custard brioche bun on a metal wire rack

Strawberry Vanilla Custard Brioche Buns

The best sweet brioche buns made from scratch! These homemade breakfast pastries are tender, soft, and fluffy and each roll is filled with a heavenly vanilla custard, fresh strawberries and pistachios.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine germany
Keyword brioche buns recipe, recipe for brioche buns, vanilla custard buns
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 12 buns
Calories 450 kcal
Author Kiki Johnson

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk - 2 tbsp = 200 ml
  • 1/3 cup butter 80 g
  • 1 egg
  • 4 cups flour 500 g
  • 2 packets active dry yeast 14 g - 4 tsp
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp salt

For the custard

  • 40 g cornstarch
  • 500 ml whole milk
  • 4 tbsps sugar or alternative sweetener
  • 1 tbsps vanilla paste or extract or scraped out seeds + pod of 1 bean
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 egg yolks

Filling

  • 1 x recipe vanilla custard
  • 2 cups fresh strawberries 300 g
  • 1/2 cup pistachios roughly chopped or ground coarsely

Instructions

  1. Warm milk with butter until the butter has melted. Let cool down a bit. 

  2. Combine flour, sugar, yeast and spices in a bowl, making sure not to let salt and yeast come into direct contact right in the beginning. Stir egg into the warm milk. The mix should be lukewarm now. Add to the dry mixture and knead everything with your stand mixer, using the dough hook. Knead for about 5 minutes, until a soft and smooth dough ball forms. Cover the bowl with cling film and let rest in a warm spot until doubled in size. This can take 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature. 

  3. For the custard, add cornstarch to a small bowl and pour in a small amount of the milk. Stir to form a slurry. Heat the rest of the milk along with vanilla, sugar, salt and the scraped out pod. 

  4. Beat egg yolks in a medium-sized, bowl.  When the milk comes to the boil, remove from heat. Add vanilla and cornstarch slurry to the pan and whisk until there are no lumps. Very gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks.

    Return the mixture to the the saucepan. Cook over a very low heat, stirring constantly with the whisk, until the mixture is very thick about 5 minutes.

    Remove from heat, transfer to a clean bowl, cover with a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface to avoid a skin forming. Set aside to cool completely. I find it best if it’s cold for filling because it is thicker and easier to work with, so you can make it a day ahead of time and refrigerate if desired. 

    The filling can be made a day ahead and kept in the fridge until needed.

  5. Gently push down the dough, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead together briefly. 

  6. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Alternatively, bake them in a rectangular pan. 

    Roll the dough out into a rectangle on a floured bench top  - aim at a 14×8 inch rectangle. 

  7. Spread the custard onto the dough leaving 1 inch spare around the edges. Sprinkle on the chopped strawberries and pistachios. Roll the dough from one of the smallest edges towards the other. Roll as tightly as you can.

    Here you can wrap the tightly rolled snails in plastic wrap and freeze for later use (to use frozen, defrost overnight in the fridge then take them out and let them rise for around 1.5 hours and bake as directed below).

  8. With a sharp knife trim the dough at the ends. Cut the log into 12 pieces. Place on the lined baking sheets or the baking pan making sure to leave room around each snail.

    10. Lightly cover the snails with wax paper and set the baking sheets in a warm place to rise for another 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 375F.

    If baking on a baking sheet with room in between them,  bake for 20 to 25 min (they are done when they are puffed, and a light brown).

  9. If baking in a baking dish with no room in between them (as in pictures), they need about 35  minutes. Cover them with aluminum foil towards the end. 

  10. Serve dusted with powdered sugar 

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

  • You can wrap the rolled log in plastic wrap and freeze for later use. Cut as frozen, then thaw. 
  • To use frozen & pre-cut, defrost the vanilla custard buns overnight in the fridge then take them out and let them rise for around 1.5 hours and bake as directed below.
  • Use the best quality butter. 
  • Check your yeast: if you haven’t used your yeast in a while and don’t know it is still active, dissolve the yeast in some of the warm milk with a teaspoon of sugar and leave in a room place for about 5-10 minutes. If it gets bubbly and puffy, use it. If not, do not even attempt the recipe until you get unexpired yeast.
  • Make sure to knead the brioche dough until it looks smooth and doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl as it spins. If it doesn’t look smooth, just continue mixing and it will!
  • For baking pastry, I always recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients which is why I give your grams. Using cups will yield different amounts every time. Using a scale is your golden ticket to breakfast pastry success.