These Italian cream breads are sweetened soft buns, cut in half then filled with a generous amount of freshly whipped cream. These are the most heavenly and luscious desserts if you love cream buns you have to try these. You will start by making the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer or if you are making it by hand you will need a large mixing bowl, add flour, salt and sugar then give them a quick toss.

In a jar with warm milk, add in yeast and whisk until it dissolves then add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and knead the dough for about 3 minutes. If you are doing this by hand it will take up to 10 minutes of kneading. You will knead the dough is ready when you pull it and it stretches and doesn’t break. Into the dough add softened butter and vanilla slowly then knead until it’s fully incorporated.

Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl then cover it with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 2 hours or doubled in size. Instead of transferring the dough onto a floured surface, drizzle about half a tablespoon of oil and place the dough onto the work surface. That way you are not incorporating any flour into the dough.

Cut the dough and form it into a ball or lightly flatten it and form the dough to look like a mini hamburger bun then place it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper leaving some space between each bun because they will rise again. Cover them with a plastic wrap and let them sit for about 30 minutes then bake them in a 320 degrees Fahrenheit (160C) preheated oven for 22 to 25 minutes.

While the vanilla buns are cooling, make the filling by adding heavy whipping cream in a bowl together with sugar and vanilla then whip the cream really well until they form firm peaks. These are best assembled and served immediately otherwise if you fill them in advance and put them in the fridge the bread will harden. Slice the buns open and fill them with eth sweet cream then dust them with powdered sugar and serve.

Ingredients;

  • 350 gr / 12.3Oz All Purpose Flour ( 2 2/3 cups)
  • 6 tbsp Sugar
  • 7 gr Dry Yeast ( 1 packet )
  • 2/3 tsp Salt
  • 210 gr / 7.4Oz Warm Milk ( 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp)
  • 60 gr / 2.1Oz Soft Butter ( 1/2 stick)
  • 2 tsp Vanilla paste/extract

Cream Filling:

  • 350 gr / 12.3Oz Heavy Cream ( 13 ounces )
  • 2 -3 tbsp Sugar ( depending on how sweet you like your cream)
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • Powdered Sugar to dust on top.