Flaky, buttery, swirled layers of croissant dough with rum raisin pastry cream and an optional rum glaze is a flavorful twist on classic pain aux raisins. Pain Aux Raisin is simply a spiraled, flaky, French pastry that is similar to raisin bread in laminated pastry form.
The following recipe is a holiday rum raisin flavor twist on a popular French breakfast pastry! This is the most requested recipe off my Instagram feed, so I definitely wanted to share it before the holidays. This makes an amazing Christmas breakfast or brunch treat.
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Pain Aux Raisin Tips & Tricks
These pain aux raisins use a croissant dough that is filled with raisin studded vanilla bean and rum pastry cream. It’s rolled up into a tight log and cut into spiraled slices to get the lovely look.
To ensure your pastries bake properly, don’t load it up with too much pastry cream. The layers are thin and you have to roll it up tightly prior to slicing, so the filling could spill out.
Feel free to skip the raisins or swap them out with any dried fruit your family loves. Try currants, chopped up dried cherries or apricots. Bea and Tilly prefer these without any fruit and can’t have the rum, so I always make a plain batch with vanilla cream only for them.
And for a further boozy kick, add a couple tablespoons of spiced rum to the water during the soaking process.
Use egg wash before baking for a beautiful golden brown color and touch of sheen. If you’d like a non-alcoholic glaze then opt for warmed apricot jam.


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Pain Aux Raisins
Flaky, buttery, swirled French pastries filled with vanilla bean pastry cream and raisins. Finished off with a rum flaze,
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raisins or dried fruit of choice, like currants or cherries
- 2/3 cup warm water * for soaking raisins
- 3 tablespoons spiced rum * optional for soaking raisins
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup water warmed to 110 degrees F
- 3 tablespoons butter unsalted and softened
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 ¼ cup AP Flour
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup dry butter 82-84% butterfat for butter block
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
Pastry Cream Filling
- 1 egg yolk
- 1.5 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- pinch fine sea salt
- 1/2 tablespoon rum optional
Glaze
- 1/4 cup butter unsalted
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons spiced rum or dark rum
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
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In a small bowl, add raisins. Cover with warm water and rum. Soak for at least 2 hours or overnight.
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Warm water to 110- 115 degrees F. Sprinkle on yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Allow to proof for 15 minutes.
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Make pastry dough with a stand mixer fitted with dough hook. In the bowl of stand mixer, add flour, salt, and sugar. Give it a mix.
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Then add egg, milk, vanilla, and yeast mixture. Knead on medium speed for 5 minutes.
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Add softened butter one tablespoon at a time, allowing to incporporate after each addition. Then turn mixer to medium high and mix for 10 more minutes, until smooth and elastic.
Remove dough to a buttered bowl and allow to slow rise in the fridge overnight.
Pastry Cream
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Make pastry cream. Put half of milk, salt, and sugar into a small saucepan set over medium low heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together cornstarch with remaining milk.
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Once the milk heats and before it reaches a simmer, temper it into the egg mixture. Whisk constantly while pouring a pencil thin stream of the hot liquid into eggs.
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Put whole mixture back into saucepan on medium low heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens to custard texture, about 7 minutes. Whisk in butter until smooth. T
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hen remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and optional rum. Pour into a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pushing it against the custard to prevent a film. Chill until ready to use.
Assembly
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Prepare your butter block. Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper. Set the dry butter down and sprinkle flour on top. Then cover with a second piece of parchment. Tap with a rolling pin until you get a square of 8 x 8. Trim if needed and put the butter bits back into block. Chill while you roll dough.
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Flour a surface. Roll dough into a rectangle of 9 x 13 inches. Place butter block in center. Then bring up bottom third and cover with remaining dough, like a letter.
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Roll and then fold again. Chill 30 minutes. Repeat this 3 more times.
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Drain raisins. Then roll out into final rectangle. Spread with creme patisserie and sprinkle on the raisins.
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Then start at short end of rectangle and tightly roll into a log. Slice into 10 spirals.
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Place onto baking sheets lined with parchment. Let them rise while the oven preheats. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
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Brush the spirals with egg wash. Sprinkle on raw sugar, if desired. Bake pain aux raisins for 20-25 minutes.
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Make Glaze. In a small saucepan set over medium-low heat, combine all ingredients except for the rum and vanilla extract.
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Once it comes to a low boil stir it constantly for 2 minutes.
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Brush hot glaze over pain aux raisins. It will creep into all those layers and crevices!
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