“I smell snow!” – Lorelai Gilmore
These snowflake-shaped pastries may just be my very favorite thing to bake! Last year, my cinnamon roll snowflake went viral and so many people baked them for the holidays. It was so much fun to receive messages and tags on social media showing me all of the beautiful snowflakes that were being created all around the word!
This year, I wanted to come up with a new version of the snowflake because it’s so much fun to make and it’s perfect for the holidays. I have been loving the raspberry almond flavor combination lately and it worked really perfectly in this pastry. I added a little bit of almond extract to the cream cheese frosting for the perfect almond-flavored topping!
As seen on instagram here.
Snowflake FAQ
Can I make this ahead? Yes! Considering the rise time and the assembly, if you’re looking to serve this on Christmas morning, I recommend making it the day before. To make this ahead, I would follow all instructions through baking it and then let it sit on the counter in an airtight container (or wrapped) overnight. Allow it to cool completely before you wrap it. I would reheat it in the oven at 350 for maybe 7 mins or so and then frost it. You can also make the frosting a day ahead and refrigerate it overnight. It would be best to take the frosting out at least an hour before you plan to serve so that the frosting is back to room temp when you frost the snowflake.
I don’t recommend leaving this assembled and raw in terms of making it ahead because the ends of the twists want to come away from each other and the longer that it sits before baking, the more the ends will be pulling apart.
If you want to make the dough the day ahead and assemble the snowflake the following day, that’s totally doable! Simple make the dough and allow it to finish the first rise, then wrap it and refrigerate it overnight. Allow it to come to room temperature the following day and then proceed with the recipe.
What if I don’t like cream cheese frosting? Totally fine! You can skip frosting and just dust your snowflake with powdered sugar, or you can make a different frosting. Check out this recipe for a simple glaze that would be perfect.
Can I take a shortcut on the homemade dough? Yes! Try it with puff pastry. You will need two sheets. One at a time, place them on a work surface and cut them into big circles. You can use a large pot or plate as a cutting guide. You want at least 10 in diameter circles. Puff pastry can’t handle the same amount of fillings as a rising yeast dough can, so I recommend using about half the amount of raspberry filling and frangipane if you decide to use puff pastry. Follow the cutting and twisting methods described below, brush with egg wash and then bake. Puff pastry typically bakes at a higher temperature than cinnamon rolls, so I would do 425 degrees F on the center rack for about 20 mins.
Can I make this Gluten Free? I haven’t tested it, but I have seen GF puff pastry at Whole Foods. I would recommend trying it with that, and follow the instructions that I included above for puff pastry.
Can I use phyllo dough or pie crust for this? No. And I love phyllo dough and pie crust! They are great for so many different recipes, but not this one. The snowflake is going to come out best with a soft and stretchy dough that has yeast in it. Any sweet dough, like a cinnamon roll dough, will work just fine. Phyllo dough is too flaky for this and pie crust is too dense and more of a cookie consistency when cooked. You will not get the results you’re hoping for with either of these options.
Can I freeze this? Yes! You can make it, bake it and freeze if you want to make it ahead that way. I suggest thawing, reheating when ready to serve and then frosting it at that time. Or, if you make it and have too much left and want to freeze some, I suggest wrapping individual portions so you can take them out from time to time, thaw, heat a bit and enjoy!
Happy baking!
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Raspberry Almond Pull-Apart Snowflake
Sweet raspberry pastry filling and creamy frangipane inside a soft and sweet dough, all twisted together to form a beautiful pull-apart snowflake pastry.
16
servings1
hour27
minutes300
kcal2
hours30
minutes3
hours57
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
- Dough
3/4 c warm whole milk (110-115 degrees F)
2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1/3 c granulated sugar
2 eggs room temperature
1/4 c salted butter (melted)
4 c bread flour
1 tsp fine pink Himalayan sea salt
- Filling
1/2 c frangipane (see recipe below)
1/2 c raspberry pastry filling
- Frangipane
4 oz almond paste
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c almond flour
4 tbsp unsalted butter (1/2 stick), softened
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
- Other
1 egg beaten for egg wash
1/2 tsp powdered sugar, for dusting
- Almond Flavored Cream Cheese Frosting
2 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
6 tbsp powdered sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 pinch salt
Directions
- Make the dough
- Start by making the sweet dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add warm milk and yeast. Whisk to combine.
- Add in sugar, eggs and melted butter. Mix until well combined.
- Next, stir in flour and salt until a dough begins to form.
- Mix in the stand mixer on low speed with a dough hook for 5 minutes. The dough should not be sticking to the sides of the bowl. If the dough starts to stick to the bottom of the bowl, add more bread flour, one tbsp at a time, until it no longer is sticking to the bottom. Your dough should not stick to your finger when you touch it. After 5 mins, I like to pinch off a piece of dough and hold it up to a window and stretch it until I can see the light come through. If you can do this without the dough tearing apart, it’s done kneading.
- Push dough to the side, add in a little olive oil, roll the dough in the oil, cover and let it rise for 2 hours, until it’s doubled in size. It can really rise for 2-3 hours, or overnight. If you want it to sit overnight, first allow it to rise for 2-3 hours, then punch it down, wrap it tightly and store it in the fridge. Let it come to room temp on the counter for about an hour before you plan to use it the next day. Here is how my dough looks after rising.
- Make the frangipane
- While the dough is rising, make the frangipane. Frangipane is a spreadable pastry filling made with almond paste. It has an egg in it, so it needs to be cooked before eating. You can make it in the stand mixer, a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, or a food processor. The food processor is probably the best, but mine isn’t big enough, so I make mine in the stand mixer with the paddle attachment. This recipe makes about 2 cups, but you only need 1/2 cup for the snowflake. Store the rest of the frangipane in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last for a few days and it’s great in pastries, galettes, and tarts!
- Add the almond paste to a mixing bowl or food processor, breaking it up with your hands or a spoon, as you add it. Add the granulated sugar and almond flour to the bowl. Mix until combined.
- Add the softened butter (it should be soft, but not melted), almond extract and egg and mix again until smooth and spreadable. Store in the refrigerator until you’re ready for it. If you make this ahead (it will last in the fridge for 3-4 days uncooked), be sure to bring it out onto the counter for 15-30 mins so that it’s soft and spreadable when you need it.
- Assemble the snowflake
- Once the dough has risen, split it into two equal pieces on a lightly floured pastry board. Mine were 18 oz each. You will work with one half of the dough at a time, so be sure to keep the dough that you’re not working with covered so that it doesn’t dry out.
- One at a time, on a lightly floured surface, roll out each section of dough into a circle of about 11 inches in diameter.
- Place a piece of parchment paper down on a surface that you can cut on (I use a wooden pastry board) and lay one of the dough circles down on the parchment. The parchment paper will make it easier to transfer the pastry from the board to your rimmed baking sheet once you’re done cutting and twisting it. I always grab the top and bottom of the parchment paper, or opposite corners, and move the pastry that way.
- Spread the frangipane evenly over the dough.
- Spread the raspberry filling over the frangipane.
- Next, carefully place the other circle of dough on top and do your best to match up the edges so that they are all lined up.
- Use a small cookie cutter to mark the center of the dough. This will help to guide your cuts. I used a small snowflake cutter.
- Start cutting through your dough carefully. Start each cut at the edge of whatever you’ve placed as your cutting guide, so you’re cutting from the middle out to the edge. I started at 12 o’clock, then cut at 6 o’clock, 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock. Once I had these 4 cuts, I cut each section in half to make 8 sections. Then I cut each of those in half so that I ended with 16 even sections.
- Next up is the twisting process. You want to work the sections two at a time. I held one section in my left hand and twisted it 1 1/2 -2 turns counter clockwise and with my right hand, I twisted 1 1/2-2 times clockwise. It’s important to twist each pair away from each other and to not twist so far that your dough starts to tear. I found that my sections could twist anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 full turns. Once you’ve twisted, you want to then pull the ends together and pinch them so that the dough sticks together. You’ll repeat this process all the way around the circle. As I worked my way around, I noticed that some of the ends would want to pull away from each other, so I would just go back and pinch the dough back together.
- This is when I usually move the pastry to a rimmed full size baking sheet. The full sheet gives the pastry plenty of room to rise and to expand while baking. I move it using the parchment paper, then cover the pastry and allow it to rise a second time. I like to let it rise for about 30 minutes for this rise.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place a rack in the center.
- Once the dough is done rising, you will notice that it has puffed up a bit. Brush it lightly with egg wash before baking.
- Place the snowflake into the preheated oven to bake. Ovens will vary, but what worked for me was to bake it for 24 mins and then to cover it with foil and bake it for 3 more minutes. The foil will help it to not get too brown. I also turned my baking sheet 1/2 turn at around 15 minutes. Once the pastry is done, it will be golden brown.
- While the snowflake bakes, make your frosting. Add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment until smooth. I usually mix on medium high. Then add the powdered sugar, almond extract, and a pinch of salt and turn the mixer on low to combine. Once combined, you can put the mixer back to medium high until your frosting is smooth and consistent. Transfer to a small bowl.
- Once the snowflake is done baking, let it cool for about 10 mins before frosting. Frost your snowflake however you like. I like to lightly frost it so that the raspberry swirls show through.
- Lightly dust with powdered sugar.
- Serve and enjoy! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and reheat in the oven or microwave. Loading gallery media…
Equipment
Snowflake CuttersShop on Williams Sonoma
Full Size Rimmed Baking SheetShop on Amazon
Wooden Pastry BoardShop at Williams Sonoma
Hexclad Chef’s KnifeShop on Hexclad
Kitchenaid 7-quart Stand MixerShop on Amazon
Measuring Cups and SpoonsShop at Williams Sonoma
Flower BowlSave with SARAHTREED15
Geometry House TowelsSave with SarahR15
Recipe Video
Notes
- I prefer to use fine pink Himalayan sea salt for baking, but you can use any fine salt that you have on hand.
- You can use raspberry jam if you don’t have raspberry pastry filling. You can also feel free to swap it for another fruit altogether if you prefer!
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Do you think that Nutella could be a substitute for the frangipane?
Hi! You can definitely use Nutella! If you like the Nutella + raspberry combination, then go for it! You could also do just Nutella without the fruit filling if you prefer. Totally up to you!
Sarah
This recipe (and the flexibility it offers) is absolutely amazing! I’m gluten and dairy free (allergies) so I had to make some adjustments. I subbed an unleavened dough that I typical use for stuffed flatbread. This is the first satisfactory pastry I’ve had in years! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Hi Shannon! Oh I am so glad to hear this! I know how difficult baking can be when you need to be gluten and dairy free. I am so glad that this worked for you!
Sarah
Can I use puff pastry for this recipe instead? It’s such a beautiful desserts
Hi Sasha! Yes, you can! You want to go lighter on the fillings though. I would say to reduce them by about half. Puff pastry can’t hold the same volume of fillings as cinnamon roll dough can.
Sarah
Can I use cream cheese instead of the almond paste
Can I use cream cheese instead of the almond paste fragp
Hi Janeah! Cream cheese would not be a suitable substitute for almond paste in Frangipane, if that’s what you’re asking. If you are looking to skip the Frangipane completely, just use a light layer of butter and then the raspberry filling!
Sarah
Hi Sarah, do you think a dusting of powdered sugar would work well instead of the frosting?
Thanks😊
Hi Peggy< Yes, definitely! You can skip the frosting and simply add a dusting of powdered sugar! Happy holidays! Sarah
Can I substitute Marzipan for the almond paste?
Hi Judith,
While doable, subbing marzipan for almond paste is not a perfect 1:1 substitution. They have different textures and marzipan is significantly sweeter. I would reduce the sugar to 2-3 Tbsp rather than 1/4 cup if you do plan to make the substitution. My recommendation would be almond paste for this, though!
Sarah
When you say wrap tightly to store over night, do you mean cover the bowl or wrap the dough itself?
Hi! You can do either one! You want to let the dough complete the first rise and then punch it down to let the excess air out before wrapping it. You can either cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate, or you can turn the dough out and then bag it or wrap it up. You don’t want it to over-proof int the fridge, so letting the air out and wrapping it will help with that. Happy holidays!
Sarah
A wonderfully written recipe and so easy to follow. I made this last night/this morning for Christmas. Though it was good and came out beautifully, I wouldn’t make it again. It was overly sweet and somehow one-dimensional. The dough itself was only ok textured (I think 5 minutes wasn’t long enough – I kept going a bit). I’m a fan of almond and raspberry but this one wasn’t quite it.