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An underrated berry – the blackberry
It’s always at this time of year that we’re reminded of the beauty of blackberries. Sometimes they can be very tart, but when you get a nice, juicy. slightly sweet one – they’re just delicious. And you also may find yourself with an abundance of blackberries over the summer months, in which case jam is a great thing to make. And any jam can be added to this dessert, although we’ve especially developed it with blackberries in mind, just because we love them. So whether you’ve got strawberry, rhubarb, gooseberry, blueberry, or any other jam – this is a great recipe to try out! Without further ado, let’s get into our recipe for blackberry crumble buns.
The inspiration behind these blackberry crumble buns
These blackberry crumble buns were inspired by one of our favorite pastries: Norwegian skoleboller. These “school buns” are made of a dough lightly flavored with cardamom, which is pressed down in the middle so that it has an indentation. That indentation is then filled with a deliciously creamy and smooth vanilla custard. The buns get baked, and you then coat them in a powdered sugar icing and desiccated coconut. The end result is a pillowy soft bun with sweetness and flavor from the custard, and a bit of extra texture from the icing and coconut. They’re so good – if you’ve never had them, we’d highly recommend giving them a try. You can find our recipe for Norwegian skoleboller here.
The perfect pastry – light and fruity!
But these are different to skoleboller because they’re fruity! We wanted to add a tart and fresh jam to brighten things up, and blackberries came to mind because they’re so plump and delicious at this time of year. Then, we thought we needed to add a bit of a crunchy texture on top, and that’s where the crumble came into play. We made a pastry with blackberries two years ago, called brombærsnitter (blackberry bars), and that also had a nice crumble topping. So this recipe was actually pretty simple to come up with – skoleboller crossed with brombærsnitter!
Other blackberry recipes you should try
Actually, we don’t have that many blackberry recipes on the blog! It’s something we need to do more of. But the recipes we do have are very delicious, and we hope you can add them to your list and give them a try.
- Brombærsnitter (Blackberry Bars): As I mentioned before, these are basically a pastry version of these buns! They’re made with a shortcrust pastry base, topped with a sharp blackberry jam, and finished off with a deliciously crispy and buttery crumble.
- Chocolate and Berry Fruit Tart: A showstopping dessert perfect for summer. It starts with a chocolate pastry tart base, then there’s a rich and creamy chocolate custard on top, and that’s topped off with fresh fruit. Blackberries are a favorite for this one because they go so well with the chocolate!
- Berry Pavlova: This is another classic summer dessert – a pavlova. And this is our basic version, which you can adjust to your taste and favorite flavor combinations. We love to top ours with freshly whipped cream and berries, in particular blackberries, which add a nice tart fresh bite to the otherwise sweet pavlova.
Ingredients and possible substitutions
These blackberry crumble buns consist of 3 parts: the dough, the blackberry filling, and the crumble topping. For the dough, you’ll need all the basic ingredients for an enriched bread dough. This includes milk, yeast, granulated sugar, salt, an egg, all-purpose or plain flour, butter, and some cardamom for flavor. You’ll also need an egg for an egg wash once the buns are all assembled. For the filling, you’ll need blackberries, granulated sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, cornstarch, and water. The latter two ingredients will help to thicken it, because blackberries contain a lot of water. You can use fresh or frozen blackberries for this recipe. Finally, the crumble topping is made with flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and melted butter.
How to make these blackberry crumble buns
To make these buns, start by making the blackberry filling. It needs to cool in the fridge, so you can even make it a day ahead of time. Then, it’s time to make the dough. Simply combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead together. You should have a smooth and elastic dough, which then needs to rise. Once that has doubled in size, you can shape the buns.
You’ll need to press down in the center of them at least once, but preferably also a second time. This is because they need to rise again before you fill them, so they swell up a little bit. Basically, for the best ratio of dough to filling, you should press them down again before filling. While they rise for the second time, make the crumble topping. Then it’s easy. For each bun, press down, egg wash, fill with jam, sprinkle some crumble on top, add an extra fresh blackberry if you like, and bake. You’ll end up with beautiful and yummy blackberry crumble buns to enjoy for brunch, dessert, or as a snack!
Blackberry Crumble Buns
These beautiful blackberry crumble buns highlight the tart flavor of blackberries, alongside a soft bun and a buttery crumble topping.
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 200 ml milk
- 2 tsp instant yeast (2.25 tsp active-dry yeast, 17.5g fresh yeast)
- 1½ tbsp sugar
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cardamom
- 1 large egg
- 375 grams all-purpose flour
- 35 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg for egg wash
BLACKBERRY FILLING
- 350 grams blackberries (fresh or frozen)
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Lemon zest from 1 lemon (optional)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
CRUMBLE TOPPING
- 80 grams flour
- 30 grams brown sugar
- 30 grams granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
- 50 grams unsalted butter, melted
- Additional blackberries for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Make blackberry filling at least an hour in advance of making the dough. Combine blackberries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt in a small pot on the stove.
- Heat up over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the blackberries burst. Cook for at least 10-15 minutes until the blackberries have broken down.
- Dissolve ~1 tbsp of cornstarch with 1 tbsp of water. Add to the blackberry mixture and make sure the mixture bubbles to activate the starch. It should thicken up, and it will also thicken up more as it cools.
- Set aside the blackberry filling to cool down; after about 15 minutes, transfer to the fridge to cool down fully.
- To make the dough: heat the milk, in the microwave or a saucepan, until it is "fingervarm" (finger warm), meaning it should feel warm to the touch but not hot. Add your active dry yeast/fresh yeast and 1 tbsp of sugar, stir, and leave it for 5-10 minutes until the mixture starts to bubble up, meaning your yeast is alive and not expired. If using instant yeast, you do not need to do this step; you can add the yeast directly to the mixing bowl with everything else.
- Add the salt, remaining sugar (½ tbsp), cardamom, and egg to a large bowl/bowl of a stand mixer and mix well. Once the yeast mixture has bubbled up a bit, add it to the egg mixture. Mix together.
- Add the flour and softened butter, mixing with a wooden spoon or the dough hook on a stand mixer until the dough starts to come together.
- Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Use a stand mixer if you would prefer! Add more flour if the dough is too sticky – if it sticks to the sides of the bowl or is really sticking to your hands, you need a little bit more flour! The dough should be soft and smooth, not too sticky nor too dry.
- Cover the dough with cling film or a clean dishtowel and place in the fridge overnight for 8 hours, or let rise at room temperature (if room temp is very cold wherever you are, put it in a warm place, i.e. under a light) for 45 minutes to an hour or until doubled in size.
- Once your dough has doubled in size, shape it into 10 balls. Roll each ball on an unfloured surface to close any seam along the bun.
- Place the buns on two lined baking sheets (with parchment paper or a silicone mat), 5 buns on each sheet.
- Cover and let rise for about 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C) – you won't need the oven for at least 15 more minutes after this, so adjust accordingly if your oven heats up very quickly.
- While the buns are rising, prepare the crumble topping by combining flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt in a bowl. Melt butter and pour over the mixture, stirring until it clumps together. There should be different sizes of crumbles, not too small and not too big. Set aside until ready to use.
- After 15 minutes of the dough rising, create a well in each roll for the blackberry filling. We usually press down into the middle with our fingertips, and use the bottom of a small glass (like a shot glass) to help even out the indentation. If using a shot glass/tool to press down, it helps to oil the bottom so it doesn't stick to the dough.
- It should look sort of like a donut but the hole is not fully punched through. The size of the indentation should be at least the size of a US quarter. After you've pressed an indent into each bun, cover and let rest for another 15-20 minutes.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: We've added estimated timing to this, but the best indicator for whether your dough is ready is the "poke test:" if you press a finger into the side of the dough, it should feel light and airy and leave an indent that doesn't spring back. If the dough springs back or feels sort of "tough," you should leave it for longer in a warm place until it passes this test! While we tend to get there after twenty minutes, your home climate could vary and it may take a while longer.
- After the dough has passed the poke test, press down the indent again to make room for the blackberry filling. Egg wash the buns.
- Spoon blackberry filling into each well in the buns (around 1-2 tbsp in each bun).
- Sprinkle crumble topping over each bun, dividing as evenly as possible between them. It's okay if you have a little bit leftover!
- Optionally, add halved blackberries to the top of the crumble for extra decoration.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. We bake both baking sheets at once, but rotate them halfway! You can also bake the sheets one at a time for more even cooking!
- After they are done baking, transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes. If you'd like, you can add a powdered sugar glaze to the top, but we usually don't do this!
- Enjoy! We store these buns in the fridge for 2-3 days after baking.
