Sweet Raspberry Buns with Cream Cheese Frosting
Happy Sunday everyone! I hope that you are all enjoying your long weekend. I unfortunately came down with Covid on Thursday, so my long weekend has been spent indoors in isolation. Definitely not ideal, but it is what it is. On the plus side, it gave me the time I needed to get ahead on some final projects for school and to write out this recipe to share with you.
A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I went raspberry picking at Fernwood Farms & Market in Stayner with the grand plan to bake something using the berries that we had picked. I thought about it for a while and then decided that it would be fun to make a spinoff of cinnamon buns with a raspberry filling in lieu of the traditional cinnamon sugar. This recipe was oh so fun to make and turned out deliciously. The cream cheese frosting is really the star here. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with cream cheese frosting.
This is a nice baking project for a weekend as the dough has to rise overnight and requires a bit of prep in the morning before baking. This recipe can be made completely vegan by using dairy free butter and cream cheese, see the bottom of the recipe for my recommended dairy free substitutes. I based the recipe for the dough off of two of my favourite cinnamon bun recipes: the First Mess’ Vegan No-Knead Cinnamon Rolls and Flourist’sΒ Yeasted Cinnamon Buns.Β
This buns will keep for up to four days covered at room temperature (if you can keep them around that long!). They can also be stored in the fridge.
Have a great long weekend!
xx
Ashley
Ingredients
Dough
- 1-2/3 cups lukewarm water
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons + 1 tsp sugar, divided
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling
- 2-1/4 cups fresh raspberries
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 2 tablespoons melted butter*
Frosting
- 1/2 cup cream cheese**
- 1/4 cup butter*
- 1-1/2 cups icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-2 tablespoons water
Instructions
The Night Before
- Dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar in the lukewarm water. Add the yeast and stir. Set this aside to proof while you mix the dry ingredients.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and salt. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix until a shaggy dough has formed. You may need to use your hand to get it all to combine. Shape into a ball in the centre of the bowl, cover and allow to rest in a warm spot for 12-18 hours (I like to do this overnight and bake in the morning).
In the Morning
- Make the filling by stirring together the raspberries, sugar, and cardamom in a small mixing bowl, muddling the raspberries a bit as you go. When you're done the consistency should look more like jam. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment and set aside.
- Transfer your proofed dough to a lightly floured work surface. Form the dough into a roughly even log about 14 inches long. Using a rolling pin, roll the log out into a rectangle that's about 11 inches by 14 inches.
- Brush the surface of the dough with the melted butter then spread the raspberry filling on, leaving about half an inch of overhang around the edges. Carefully roll the dough back into a log, starting with the long edge. Warning: a serious amount of the filling will be pushed out during the rolling, we simply scooped it up off the work surface and put it on top of our buns before baking.
- Cut the rolled dough into 12 pieces of roughly the same size. Transfer the rolls to the prepared baking pan, leaving a bit of room between rolls so they have space to rise. Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel and allow to proof for a further 40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350Β°F. Once the buns are done proofing, pop them in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and the middle rolls sound hollow when you tap them with your finger. Allow the buns to cool for at least 20 minutes before frosting.
- While the buns are cooling, make the frosting. In a small mixing bowl using a baking spatula, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add the icing sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth, adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of water as you go to reach the desired consistency. If there are persistent clumps in your frosting, switch to a whisk to get the frosting nice and smooth.
- Using a spoon, drizzle the frosting over the cooled buns, smoothing it with the back of the spoon as you go. Enjoy them right away, or keep them wrapped up tight for up to four days.
Notes
