Pain Aux Raisins

If you’re new to making pastries, this classic recipe is an ideal one to start with.

Makes about 24 Prep 2 hours Bake 15 – 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 quantity Danish pastry, chilled

• Flour for dusting

• 1 quantity crème pâtissière

• 225g raisins

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 2 medium eggs, beaten

• 150g apricot jam to glaze

• 200g icing sugar

• 2 tbsp water

• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Method

1. Line 3 or 4 baking trays with baking parchment or silicone paper.

2. Cut the rested dough in half. Roll one half out on a lightly floured surface to a large rectangle, about 7mm thick. Turn it 90°, if necessary, so a long edge is facing you. Smear half the crème pâtissière over the dough, leaving a clear 5cm margin along the near edge. Sprinkle half the raisins and cinnamon over the crème. Roll the dough towards you into a sausage, keeping it as tight as possible – give a gentle tug each time you roll to tighten the dough and give it a little tension. When you reach the end, roll the sausage back and forth a few times to seal the join. Repeat with the second piece of dough and remaining ingredients.

3. Cut the rolls into 3cm slices. Lay cut side up and apart on the baking trays and put each inside a clean plastic bag. Leave to rise at cool room temperature (18 – 24°C) until at least doubled in size, about 2 hours.

4. Heat your oven to 200°C. Brush the risen pastries with beaten egg and bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown. Meanwhile, warm the apricot jam with a little water in a pan, then sieve. As you take the pastries out of the oven, brush with the jam and transfer to a wire rack to cool. For the icing, stir the ingredients together until smooth. When the pastries are cooled, drizzle the lemon icing over them.

Taken from Paul Hollywood’s How to Bake, published by Bloomsbury Photograph © Peter Cassidy