Light and fluffy milk bread lemon raspberry rolls filled with raspberry curd and topped with lemon mascarpone frosting.
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lemon raspberry rolls
Hello hello! I’m here today with a SUPER fresh and delicious recipe. If you love lemon, you’re in the right place! These milk bread lemon raspberry rolls are ridiculously light and fluffy thanks to the use of tangzhong, and are filled with tangy homemade lemon curd and fresh raspberries. After all that, they’re topped off with cream cheese icing and some more lemon curd. I know yeast bread can seem like a lot of work, but once you get the dough down, most of the time spent is really just waiting for the dough to rise. Below I have a lot of tips and tricks on dealing with yeast bread that I hope are helpful, but please feel free to leave any questions you might have below on the post. But anyways, let’s get into it!
why you’ll love these lemon raspberry rolls:
- They’re super soft and fluffy: The tangzhong (milk bread). method makes these rolls super soft and fluffy.
- Raspberry curd: it’s tart, sweet & full of raspberry flavor – although I will warn that it makes rolling up the rolls a little messy.
- Mascarpone: I have a current obsession with mascarpone – it’s light flavor pairs so well with everything, including these rolls.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Use room temperature ingredients:
It’s important that your ingredients are at room temperature so that they can easily incorporate with each other. Take out your cold ingredients about an hour before you’ll need them.
try to avoid metal utensils when making the curd
It’s possible for the curd to take on a metallic taste if you are using a metal bowl or whisk, so to be safe I would recommend staying away from those when making the curd.
the dough will take a while to knead
Kneading this dough will take a longer time than you are probably used to. This dough is enriched with eggs and butter which makes it take longer for the proper amount of gluten to develop. Kneading in the mixer can take me anywhere from 10-20 minutes. The dough is ready to be used when it passes the windowpane test and has pulled away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. If you are weighing your ingredients, just trust the process! If you are using cup measurements and the dough just is not coming together after 15 minutes, try adding in 1 tbsp. of flour at a time.
how to tell your dough is done kneading: the windowpane test
The windowpane test is (in my opinion) the best way to tell that your dough has been properly kneaded. Once the dough starts to pull away from the sides and the bottom of the mixing bowl, it is most likely ready. However, just to be sure that it’s good to go I check if it passes the windowpane test. To do that, take some of the dough in your hands and start to slowly stretch it out. If it can get thin enough to where light passes through it before tearing, then it’s good to go! If not, keep kneading until it does!
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
lemon raspberry rolls ingredients:
Milk bread brioche:
- All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness. Please be sure that you are using a high-quality flour that has a high protein %, such as King Arthur (11.7%) so that your gluten will develop. If you’re using a low protein flour, the gluten will not develop enough and you will have to add a lot more flour to the brioche, which will alter the dough!
- Active dry yeast: for making the dough rise. You can easily substitute in instant yeast if that is what you have on hand – more notes on that later in the blog post.
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the brioche. Salt also “controls” the yeast to make sure that it does not overly expand.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetening the brioche and for helping the yeast with rising.
- Egg: for binding and adding moisture.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the brioche rolls and giving them a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth feel. I would not recommend substituting in salted butter since salt is important to controlling yeast growth and the amount of salt in salted butter is quite variable.
- Whole milk: for tenderizing and hydrating the dough. Whole milk will provide the softest rolls because the extra fat helps tenderize the dough. You can however swap in 1%, 2% or your favorite non dairy milk alternative! Just note that the dough may be a little less soft and fluffy due to the varying fat content.
raspberry curd:
- Frozen raspberries: I recommend frozen because they’re easier (& often cheaper!) to get your hands on.
- Egg: thickens up the curd.
- Granulated sugar: to sweeten and thicken up the curd.
- Lemon: brightens up the curd – we’ll be using both the zest and the juice for maximum flavor.
- Salt: like with the dough, a bit of salt helps with the flavor and sweetness of the curd.
- Unsalted butter: helps thicken the curd and make it creamy. You can substitute in salted butter here, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the curd! You can also use your favorite dairy-free butter stick as a substitute.
Mascarpone frosting:
- Mascarpone: the base of the frosting.
- Granulated sugar: just a little bit to sweeten up the frosting.
- Lemon zest: for flavor.
- Heavy whipping cream: to thicken up the frosting and make it fluffier.
how to make lemon raspberry rolls:
Here’s just a little overview of making these lemon raspberry rolls. You can find the full recipe at the end of the blog post!
- Make the lemon curd. Whisk all the ingredients together (excluding the butter) then continuously whisk it over medium heat until it thickens.
- Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl with the butter.
- Roll out the dough into a giant rectangle.
- Spread the raspberry curd over the dough, then slice it into 9 long slices.
- Let the dough rise again, then bake, frost, serve, and enjoy!
lemon raspberry rolls recipe q&a
what is tangzhong?
Tangzhong is a cooking method that involves cooking a portion of the flour in a recipe with 4-5x the amount of liquid. Cooking the flour pre-gelatinizes the starch in the flour, allowing it to hold on to more liquid. This leads to a bread that can hold way more liquid than it normally would be able to, which makes the bread softer, and fluffier, and keeps it from staling as fast. It’s basically a secret ingredient for better bread, using ingredients you already need for the bread! If you ever see the word “milk bread”, that means that that bread uses tangzhong!
how to store lemon raspberry rolls
Like any fresh bread recipe, these will definitely taste the best and the most fresh on the day that they are baked. However, they can be stored, unfrosted, out at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Keep the mascarpone frosting and raspberry curd topping in the fridge until you want to serve the rolls.
can I use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast?
Definitely – just pop all of the dough ingredients into your mixing bowl to start kneading. I recommend refrigerating the dough overnight to make it easier to work with and more flavorful. However, if you are making the recipe all in one day, and using instant yeast, let the dough rest for just 10 minutes as the first rise (or whatever the instructions are on your yeast packet), then proceed with the rest of the recipe.
can I make the dough ahead of time?
Yes, and I highly recommend it! Brioche dough is a very enriched dough that can be hard to work with when warm. Knead the dough together, cover it, and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight. When you’re ready, take the dough out of the fridge and proceed with the recipe.
my yeast mixture isn’t foaming, what should I do?
The mixture should start foaming around 5 minutes in. If it has not foamed after 10 minutes, the yeast is likely dead. You want to make sure that the milk temperature does not exceed 110°F / 43°C or it will kill the yeast. If you try it again and it still does not foam, the yeast you are using may be expired and you will want to purchase some more before proceeding.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Lemon Raspberry Rolls
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 24 g all purpose flour (3 tbsp.)
- 100 g whole milk (3 ½ oz.)
Brioche
- 90 g whole milk (3 oz.)
- 1 ½ tsp. active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 240 g all purpose flour (2 c.)
- 1 ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 egg room temperature
- 56 g unsalted butter (4 tbsp.) room temperature
Raspberry Curd*
- 56 g unsalted butter cubed (4 tbsp.)
- 2 eggs
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 65 g granulated sugar (⅓ c.)
- Zest of 1 medium-sized lemon
- 40 g lemon juice (3 tbsp.)
- 150 g frozen raspberries (1 ¼ c.)
Mascarpone Frosting
- 110 g mascarpone (½ c.)
- Zest of 1 medium-sized lemon
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Tangzhong
- Add the flour and milk to a microwave safe bowl and whisk them together. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir and microwave for another 30 seconds. The mixture should now be a thick slurry, but if it’s not, microwave it in 10 second intervals until it has thickened.
Brioche
- Add the milk, sugar, yeast, egg, flour, salt, butter, and tangzhong to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.
- Knead the mixture on medium speed for ~15-20 minutes. The dough is ready when it is no longer sticking to the sides or the bottom of the bowl, and passes the windowpane test.**
- Once the dough is done kneading, shape it into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm area to rise until doubled in size (~1 hr.)***
- In the meantime, make the raspberry curd.
Raspberry Curd*
- Prep a small mixing bowl by adding the cubed butter to it, along with a fine mesh sieve. Set aside.
- Add the eggs, salt, and sugar to a small saucepan, then zest the lemon into the saucepan. Vigorously whisk the mixture together until the egg has been all broken up and you have a cohesive mixture.
- Add in the lemon juice and frozen raspberries. Set the saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly (this can be slowly – we just need constant movement happening!)
- Continue to stir the curd until it thickens and reaches a temperature of at least 170°F / 76°C (This took me about 3-5 minutes.)
- Remove the curd from the heat and pass it through the fine mesh sieve, over the butter. Mix the curd and the butter together until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Set the curd in the fridge until you're ready to assemble the rolls.
Shaping the Rolls
- Butter an 8" square pan and set it aside.
- Once the dough has doubled in size (or after taking it out of the fridge after rising overnight), punch it down to remove excess air. Transfer the dough to a clean and lightly floured surface, then roll it out to a 12″ x 16″ (30 x 40 cm) rectangle.
- Spread ¾ c. of the chilled raspberry curd over the dough, reserving the rest for the topping.
- (Warning: this part will get a little messy) Start (carefully) rolling up the rolls into a log from the longer side. Cut the log into 9 even slices.
- Transfer the rolls evenly spaced apart in your prepared baking dish. Lightly cover the pan with a towel, and let the rolls rise in a warm environment until doubled in size (~30 minutes).
- Once the rolls have doubled in size, bake them at 350°F / 175°C for 20-25 minutes. Use a thermometer to check when the rolls are done cooking (190°F / 88°C.)
Mascarpone Frosting
- In a small mixing bowl, lightly beat the mascarpone with the lemon zest, salt and sugar to make sure it's smooth. Then beat in the heavy whipping cream until it thickens and the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Once the rolls have slightly cooled, top them with the mascarpone frosting and the remaining raspberry curd. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
the FLUFFIEST rolls i’ve ever made!!! every cinnamon or flavored roll i’ve ever made always came out too ‘bready’ or dense but these came out so light and fluffy and tasted perfectly sweet and lemony!!! the only thing i did different (which was an accident) was that i used a whole packet of yeast instead of the 1 1/2 teaspoon but i don’t think the taste was too greatly impacted! still this was a favorite of mine and i’ll definitely be making these again they were delicious!!!!
Ah thank you so much Isabel, I’m so happy you liked them! 🙂