Brioche swirls with blueberry and cream cheese filling

Prep time: 4 hours including rise time Makes: 16 large rolls Bake time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Brioche dough

4 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more if needed

3 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast ( you can use quick rise)

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup cold water

6 eggs

1 and 3/8 cups (2 and 3/4 sticks) unsalted room temperature butter cut into 12 pieces

Blueberry compote

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups frozen blueberries

Cream cheese filling

2 – 8 ounce packages room temperature full fat cream cheese

3/4 sugar

1 room temperature egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

Glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 tablespoons heavy cream or half and half

Directions

Using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water and 5 of the eggs. Beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes. Stop the mixer as needed and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Once the dough has come together, beat on low for another 3-4 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and seem dry. With the mixer on low speed, add butter 1 piece at a time mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. Continue mixing on low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. The butter needs to be completely mixed into the dough. Once all the butter is incorporated, turn up the speed to medium and beat until the dough becomes sticky and soft. Beat another 15 minutes. The dough should be pulling together and slapping the sides of the bowl now. If the dough seems too wet and loose, add a few tablespoons of flour until it comes together. You should be able to pick the dough up in one ball when it is done. Place the dough in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly on the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof in the fridge for 2-3 hours, ( or even overnight). Make the blueberry compote and cream cheese filling while the dough is proofing.

Blueberry compote

In a one quart heavy saucepan, boil water and sugar uncovered for 5 minutes. Stir in blueberries and simmer, stirring occasionally until blueberries begin to burst. Remove from heat and use a potato masher to gently mash the blueberries. You don’t want large pieces of the blueberries in the rolls. Cool completely and refrigerate until the dough is ready to be filled.

Cream cheese filling

Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg in a medium bowl with a mixer until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate until ready to fill the rolls

Glaze

Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl

When the dough is proofed and ready, cut it in half. Each half will yield 8 rolls. Flour your board and roll the dough into a 12×16 inch rectangle. The dough should be about 1/4″ thick. Spread about 1/2 the cream cheese filling over the dough leaving a bit of a border. Spread half the blueberry compote over the cream cheese mixture. Roll up long ways and cut into 8 equal pieces. Make sure to pinch the dough closed so the filling won’t ooze out.  Butter a 9×13″ baking pan and place the rolls in the pan and cover with plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise again in warm part of your kitchen for about 1 and 1/2 hours.( see the photos of what the rolls will look like after they have risen long enough).   Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls for 35 to 45 minutes. Cool completely and glaze.