Pistachio brioche buns with roasted rhubarb

If I owned a pâtisserie, these are exactly the buns I would be serving at this time of year. Delicate, richly buttery brioche buns topped with tender roasted rhubarb, pistachio cream and chopped pistachios. What an absolute delight for the taste buds! For this recipe, I use sweet pistachio cream, but if you prefer, you can use pure pistachio paste and sweeten it to taste. I’m delighted that the recent pistachio trend in baking has brought such a wide variety of pistachio products to the shops. As a long-time pistachio lover, I also appreciate that pistachios have been rediscovered and are finally receiving the attention they deserve. And they taste absolutely wonderful paired with rhubarb in these brioche buns :).

Makes 12 large buns.

Ingredients for the roasted rhubarb:

• 900 g rhubarb, cut into 8–9 cm lengths
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Arrange the rhubarb pieces on a large baking tray or in a roasting dish. Sprinkle with the sugar, drizzle over the lemon juice and vanilla.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 10 minutes, until the rhubarb has softened slightly but still holds its shape. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

Ingredients for the brioche dough:

• 380 g strong white bread flour
• 50 g caster sugar
• 7 g dried yeast or 14 g fresh yeast
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 100 ml milk
• 3 large eggs
• 170 g softened butter

Additionally:

• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk or water, for glazing
• crumble topping (recipe below)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, dried yeast and salt (if using fresh yeast, prepare a starter first). Add the milk and eggs and mix until a smooth dough forms, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer or 8 minutes by hand. Add the softened butter and continue kneading until fully incorporated and the dough becomes smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes in a mixer or 10 minutes by hand. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead briefly.

Prepare two large baking trays lined with baking parchment. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Shape into balls and leave to rest for 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. Roll each ball into a round approximately 10 cm in diameter and place onto the prepared trays, leaving plenty of space between them. Arrange 3–4 pieces of roasted rhubarb on top of each bun, depending on the thickness of the stalks. Cover loosely with cling film or a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 1½ hours. Just before baking, brush with the egg wash and sprinkle generously with the crumble topping.

Bake at 180°C for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Ingredients for the crumble topping:

• 75 g plain flour
• 70 g sugar
• 8 g vanilla sugar
• 60 g melted butter

Rub all the ingredients together with your fingertips until crumbly.

To finish:

• 350 g pistachio cream
• ½ cup finely chopped pistachios
• icing sugar, optional

Transfer the pistachio cream to a piping bag and pipe decorative zigzags over each cooled bun. Sprinkle generously with the chopped pistachios. If desired, dust lightly with icing sugar before serving.

Enjoy!