These light, flaky Pain Aux Raisins are a quick and easy French pastry your whole family will love! This easy French recipe uses creamy custard, golden raisins, and a flaky puff pastry for a delightful treat!
This Pain Aux Raisins recipe will make your kitchen smell like a classic French Patisserie! These melt in your mouth pastries are so easy to make and will bring a smile to anyone’s face. These homemade puff pastry swirls are great for a breakfast treat, or any time!
If you’re looking for more sweet ideas, why not also try my Raspberry Puff Pastry Tart and my Chocolate Banana Bread recipe.
Why you’ll love this Pain Aux Raisin recipe
- An easy pastry recipe. This are a breeze to whip up, I used pre-made sheets of puff pastry provide this dessert with flaky, crispy layers.
- A dreamy, creamy filling. This homemade custard filling provides a smooth, creamy filling to hold the raisins in between the flaky layers.
- A delicious apricot glaze. This flaky pastries have a tangy finishing glaze, this apricot glaze is made from apricot preserves and water for the perfect finishing touch on these easy pastries.
Ingredients you’ll need
- Puff Pastry
- Eggs
- Apricot Preserve
- Water
- Golden Raisins
- Whole Milk
- Corn Starch
- Vanilla Extract
- Butter
- Lemon Zest
How to make Pain Aux Raisins
- Prep the custard: Bring the milk to a boil over a low-medium heat then add to the egg yolk mixture and whisk until smooth. Strain the custard, add butter, whisk then allow to cool to room temp in a covered bowl.
- Assemble the pastries: Lay a sheet of puff pastry on a cutting board, then spread custard on each sheet. Top each sheet of puff pastry with the golden raisins.
- Cut your rolls: Using a cooking floss, cut each roll into 8 pieces. If you would like larger pastries feel free to cut the rolls into 6 pieces. Then place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Brush each roll with the egg.
- Bake: Bake for 12-15 minutes until the pain aux raisins are golden in color. Right before the pastries come out of the oven, mix the apricot preserve and 1 Tbsp of water in a small bowl and microwave for 45 seconds.
- Glaze: When the pain aux raisins come out of the oven, brush them with the apricot glaze.
- Allow them to cool before eating, serve and enjoy!
Recipe notes and tips
- Prepare the custard the night before and refrigerate, with the plastic wrap touching the top layer, for faster assembly.
- Make sure the puff pastry thaws before unfolding and filling with stuffing.
- Arrange the Pain Aux Raisins on baking sheets, making sure to keep enough space between them so they will not touch when proofing and baking.
- Use a floss to slice the rolls instead of a knife, this prevents the rolls from unrolling while you slice them.
- For an extra pop of color, add a glace cherry on top or some candied fruit after the bake.
FAQ’s
What is Pain Aux Raisins?
Pain Aux Raisins is a French pastry made out of a leavened butter pastry, cream, and raisins. Roughly translated pain aux raisins means raisin bread. This spiraled pastry is a simple dessert that can be found at any bakery in France. These are one of my favorite French pastries. I love the crispy layers baked with a creamy filling and the slight tang the apricot glaze and raisins bring to the dessert.
Can I add icing?
Absolutely! You can drizzle some some simple icing over these, for an extra special twist. Just mix 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and 1 tbsp of half and half until runny but still slightly thick. Drizzle and done!
Storing Leftovers
Any leftover Pain Aux Raisins can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To reheat, just heat up in the microwave or your oven on a medium heat until warmed.
Making these ahead of time
Before baking the rolls wrap them very tightly with plastic wrap, and place them in the freezer for up to 2 months. When ready to bake, transfer from the freezer to the fridge and allow to thaw overnight. Bake as directed.
Other delicious desserts
- Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
- Strawberry French Tart
- Easy Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Super Moist Pear Cake
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Pain Aux Raisins recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it and share it with your friends and family!
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Easy Pain Aux Raisins
Ingredients
- 2 sheets Puff Pastry thawed
- 1 Egg whisked
- ¼ c. Apricot Preserve
- 1 Tbsp. Water
- 1 c. Golden Raisins
- Cooking floss or thread
Cream Filling
- 2 c. Whole Milk
- ⅓ c. Corn Starch
- ½ c. Sugar
- 3 Egg Yolks
- 1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract or ½ tsp Vanilla Bean
- 2 Tbsp. Butter
- ½ tsp. Lemon Zest
Instructions
To Prepare the Custard
- Bring the milk to a boil in a sauce pan over low-medium heat.
- While the milk heats, in a pyrex or glass bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, corn starch, vanilla, and lemon zest.
- When the milk boils, carefully pour it over the egg yolk mixture and whisk until smooth.
- Using a hand strainer, pour the custard through the strainer and back into the sauce pan. Heat over medium-low heat and whisk until the custard begins to thicken up. Add in the butter and whisk until it melts.
- After the butter melts in, remove from heat. Transfer the custard to a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap by placing the plastic wrap over the top layer of custard. Allow to cool to room temperature before assembling the pastries.
Assembling the Pastries
- To assemble the pastries, lay a sheet of puff pastry on a cutting board or a clean countertop. Spread ¾ cup of custard on each puff pastry sheet. Top each sheet of puff pastry with ½ cup of golden raisins.
- Roll the puff pastry along the long edge into a log. Using cooking floss, cut each roll into 8 pieces.
- Place the cut pieces on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk the egg. Lightly brush each pastry with the egg wash.
- Bake for in a pre-heated 350 degree oven 12-15 minutes, until the pastries are golden in color.
- Right before the pastries come out, stir together the apricot preserves and water in a bowl and microwave for 45 seconds. Brush the apricot glaze onto the pain aux raisins when they come out of the oven.
- Allow pastries to cool before eating.
Currently making these, and they’re taking forever to bake…I’m at 30 minutes and they’re still pale and doughy. I think the oven temp should be higher.
Hi Alicis,
I will look into the recipe again. It’s been a long time since I made them. If you need to, you can always broil it a little bit on top to get the desired color if you don’t get it by the time mentioned. The dough itself will not be dry because it’s filled with custard so it will look like it’s softer, as long as the dough part is cooked, you should be fine with broiling the top for a couple of minutes to get desired color.
How did you arrive at 350F for a baking temp? I just made these, and I’m planning on eating the entire tray, but at 350 they took twice the recommended time and still didn’t get fully golden brown. Most puff pastry recipes bake at MUCH higher temps (400-450) which is important to get the “puff” effect.
Hi Anna, the pieces are small so they cook up faster. All ovens are different so it may take longer for some. I will create the recipe again soon to double check on the cook time.
These are so quick and easy for such a delicious treat. Try them you won’t be sorry you did.
Hi Will,
Glad you enjoyed the recipe. It’s a simple short cut version but tastes so good. Thanks for the review.
What should the dimensions of each puff pastry sheet be?
The sheet sizes are standard in stores but differ per brand. I use Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Frozen Pastry Dough Sheets usually and just cut the pieces equally based on the size of the sheet. About 1.5 inch thick would be the least. There is no right or wrong. You just adjust the time if you are making bigger pieces.
I thought so, thank you
I am thinking of making these, but I don’t know what you mean by 1/3 c, what does the c stand for?
Thanks
Marion
Hi Marion
c stands for cup. So 1/3 cup
Amazing. The lemon zest gives extra zing to the creme patisserie which is unusual but tastes great! Hubby loved it too, said its something between baklawa and pain aux raisin 🙂
Hi Agnes,
Thanks so much for leaving a review! I am sure the lemon zest would make it so much yummier. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Hi how can I make the puff pastry from scratch?
Hi Joanna,
I have honestly never made one. Google “how to make puff pastry dough” and use one that has the most ratings.
Hi what temperature should these be cooked at?
Hey Josh! sorry about that. It’s 350 I have updated the baking instructions.
hi!! I am currently trying to make this recipe, i noticed that the ingrediants call for sugar, but it does not say in the directions when/where to add the sugar! Please let me know if possible when I should add it. thank you!!!!
Hi Jessie!
Sorry about the confusion. The sugar is part of the custard. You will whisk it along with the eggs. I updated the directions.