In the world of office supplies, lamination involves sandwiching a sheet of paper between two layers of plastic. In the food world, lamination involves the process of sandwiching a layer of butter between two sheets of dough and then folding and rolling it multiple times. Much more delicious than paper encased in plastic.
It creates a dough with hundreds of alternating layers of butter and dough. When this dough is baked, the heat of the oven converts the water in the dough and butter into steam and the dough puffs up into delicate flaky layers. Croissants are a type of a laminated dough.
For these buns, I’m starting with a brioche dough. Brioche is an enriched dough made with butter and eggs. Then we further enrich the dough by laminating it with more butter. I made a video of the process.
These little buns are a really fun weekend project. Making laminated dough takes time but the results are worth it. I mean, look at those flaky, buttery layers.
You can divide the work over 2 days. Make the brioche dough and frangipane filling on the first day. Then laminate the dough and roll and assemble on day 2. These buns are packed with flavour. Sweet frangipane and white chocolate, sour cherry jam and tart dried cherries and crunchy sliced almonds. It’s a powerhouse of texture and taste.
You may be tempted to skip the chilling between rolls, but I beg you not to rush the process. Without the chilling in between each roll/fold, the butter will get too soft and it will start seeping out of the dough. You won’t get beautiful layers. Once the dough is filled and rolled, a final chill is critical to get nice tidy slices. Trust me. I know this from experience. I rushed it on my first try and had a mess. Still delicious but not so pretty.
I baked mine in 5 ounce ramekins. I also tested it in a popover pan. The shape will be a bit more cylindrical, like the bun in the above picture. I think you could also use giant muffin tins. The ceramic ramekins are quite inexpensive. I paid $2.50 for each one at my local kitchen store.
They are best eaten the day they are baked. We had too many to eat, so I wrapped each leftover bun in plastic wrap and then put them in a ziploc bag in the freezer. My husband has been removing one each night after dinner and letting it thaw on the counter for about an hour. Then he heats it up for about 7 minutes in a 350°F oven. He goes to bed very happy. Sadly that happiness disappears after watching Lisa LaFlamme regaling us with the latest and greatest Covid news of the day. We are languishing.
