These tiramisu cream buns feature a super light and fluffy brioche bun that’s sliced and filled generously with a tiramisu mascarpone whipped cream.
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tiramisu cream buns
Hello and welcome to another installment of I love brioche and can’t stop making it. This week, we’re combining brioche with one of my favorite desserts – tiramisu. It all starts out with a super soft and fluffy brioche bun that comes together super easily. Once the buns are baked off, we slice them, fill them with a super flavorful espresso tiramisu mascarpone whipped cream, and dust them with cocoa powder and chocolate shavings. It’s truly a tiramisu in brioche bun form.
So let’s get right into it! ☺︎
why you’ll love these tiramisu cream buns:
- They’re super soft and fluffy: I would never serve you un-fluffy brioche.
- Tiramisu cream: it’s got all the flavor notes of tiramisu – mascarpone, espresso, vanilla, and coffee liquor.
- Easy-ish to make: I say easy-ish because brioche can seem super intimidating, but I promise it comes together super easily and I have all the tips and tricks you’ll need throughout this post.
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.
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.
tiramisu cream buns ingredients:
brioche:
- Bread flour: I recommend bread flour for the best structure. or structure and chewiness. You could also use 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.
tiramisu cream:
- Heavy whipping cream: the base of the whipped cream.
- Mascarpone: for some of that classic tiramisu flavor.
- Granulated sugar: for a touch of sweetness – any sugar will work here.
- Espresso powder: for flavor. I recommend espresso powder but instant espresso or instant coffee will work here as well – you just might want to add in a little more to amp up the flavor. You could also omit this entirely if coffee isn’t your thing.
- Coffee liquor: for flavor – use your favorite coffee liquor here (I used kahlua) – or omit it all together if desired. You could also use ~1 tsp. of rum extract in its place.
- Vanilla: for flavor – vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste work great here.
- Cocoa powder & chocolate shavings: for dusting on top of the buns.
how to make tiramisu cream buns:
Here’s just a little overview of making these tiramisu brioche buns. You can find the full recipe at the end of the blog post!
- Make the brioche dough, then leave it to rise in a warm environment until doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down and divide it into six equally sized pieces.
- Roll the dough pieces tightly into balls, then leave them to rise on a baking tray for ~30 minutes before baking.
- Beat together the tiramisu mascarpone whipped cream ingredients.
- Once the buns have completely cooled to room temperature, slice them in half and pat down the dough on the bottom half.
- Top with tiramisu cream, the top half of the bun, more tiramisu cream & cocoa powder/chocolate shavings. Enjoy!
tiramisu cream buns recipe q&a
how to store tiramisu brioche buns
Like any fresh bread recipe, these will definitely taste the best and the most fresh on the day that they are baked. Because the filling is made of mascarpone & heavy whipping cream, the buns need to be refrigerated after being out at room temperature for 2 hours. For that reason, I highly recommend only frosting the buns that you want to eat immediately, or serving them all immediately so that you can store the cream in the fridge and the unfrosted buns at room temperature so that they don’t dry out as fast.
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.
tools and ingredients:
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other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
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Tiramisu Cream Buns
Ingredients
Brioche
- 80 g whole milk (⅓ c.)
- 1 tsp. active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 180 g bread flour (1 ½ c.)
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 egg room temperature
- 56 g unsalted butter room temperature (4 tbsp.)
Tiramisu Cream
- 150 g mascarpone (⅔ c.)
- 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 200 g heavy whipping cream (7 oz.)
- 45 g coffee liquor like kahlua, optional (1 ½ oz.)
- 1 tbsp. espresso powder
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- cocoa powder for dusting
Instructions
Brioche
- In a microwave safe measuring cup, heat the milk to 100°F / 38°C. Whisk in the yeast and the sugar. Set aside until the mixture begins to foam. (~5 minutes)
- While waiting, add the flour, salt, egg, and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. When the yeast mixture begins to foam, add it in to the rest of the ingredients.
- Knead the dough on low speed for 1 minute to allow the ingredients to come together. Increase the speed to medium-high and knead for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until the dough passes the windowpane test.* (This will happen after the dough has cleaned the sides and bottom of the bowl)
- Once the dough is done kneading, butter the inside of the bowl, form the dough into a ball and place it back in the bowl. Then cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap. At this point, you could set the dough in the fridge to rise overnight, or continue with completing the recipe in one day. If doing in one day, set the dough in a warm area and wait for it to double in size (~1 hour.)
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to remove excess air, then transfer it to a clean, lightly floured surface.
- Divide the dough into 6 equally sized pieces, and roll each tightly into a ball.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper, and evenly spread the buns out on top of it. Cover the tray loosely with a towel.
- Allow the buns to rise in a warm environment for ~30 minutes, or until they have slightly puffed up.
- Preheat the oven to 350F / 175C. (Optional, for browning): In a small bowl, whisk together an egg and 1 tbsp. of milk. Brush the tops of each of the buns with the egg wash and a sprinkle of granulated sugar.
- Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes, or until they start to turn golden brown. You can also check if they are done by making sure the internal temperature is at least 190°F / 87°C.
Tiramisu Cream
- While the buns are cooling, make the tiramisu cream.
- Add the mascarpone and sugar to a medium sized mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer (or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment) to beat the mixture just until combined.
- Add in the heavy whipping cream, coffee liquor (if using), espresso powder, and vanilla. Beat the mixture until it reaches soft peaks.
- Once the buns have cooled to room temperature, slice them in half. Lightly push down the bottom center of the buns to make a divot for the cream.
- Top each bun with tiramisu cream, then place the tops of the buns back on them. Top with more tiramisu cream, cocoa powder, and chocolate shavings. 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.
Hey are you oven temps fan or non fan? Thanks
Hi! My temps are for conventional (non-fan) ovens.