sour cherry and pistachio scrolls
2 Feb 2026
Sour cherries and pistachios are a match made in heaven and feature in Honey and Co's delicious fitzrovia bun recipe. I recently bought a copy of Helen Goh's book, Baking and The Meaning of Life and in the book is a recipe for pistachio and sour cherry scrolls filled with pistachio paste.
I have a huge bottle of pistachio paste in my cupboard and I've been looking for ways to use it. Inspired by the photo in Helen's book, I made my own version. My bun dough is an adaptation of Sarah Kieffer's recipe from the Vanilla Bean Blog. Her pillowy soft cinnamon rolls recipe is so good I see no reason to ever use another recipe. The lemon cheese cream cheese icing recipe is one I developed some time ago.
Here's the recipe for you which makes 6-8 scrolls. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.
Sour cherry and pistachio scrolls - makes 6-8 scrolls
Dough
1¼ tsp dried yeast
1¼ tsp dried yeast
140 mls milk, lukewarm
30 mls honey
1 room temperature egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (300g) plain flour
½ tsp salt
60g room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
75g sour cherries, roughly chopped if they are large
30 mls honey
1 room temperature egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (300g) plain flour
½ tsp salt
60g room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
75g sour cherries, roughly chopped if they are large
Filling
175g pistachio paste
To finish
2 tbs melted butter or cream
Lemon cream cheese icing
30g unsalted butter, room temperature
60g cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Pinch salt
1 tsp lemon rind
120g (1 cup) icing sugar, sifted
1-2 tbs roughly chopped pistachios
60g cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Pinch salt
1 tsp lemon rind
120g (1 cup) icing sugar, sifted
1-2 tbs roughly chopped pistachios
Dough
Grease a large bowl and set to one side. Combine the yeast, milk and honey in a large liquid measuring cup and rest for 5-10 minutes or until foamy then stir in the egg and the vanilla.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour and salt and stir on low to combine. Add the egg mixture and mix on low to combine. Mix for about 5 minutes then with the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time. When all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough, until all the little butter pieces are incorporated, for about 1 minute. Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl. The dough will be very sticky and you will need a spatula to scrape the dough into the bowl.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Add the sour cherries to the bowl and gently press into the dough with your finger tips. Place your fingers or a spatula underneath the dough and gently pull the dough up and fold it back over itself. Turn the bowl and repeat this folding again. Continue 6 to 8 more times, until all the dough has been folded over on itself. Re-cover the bowl with plastic and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat this series of folding 3 more times, for a rise time of 2 hours and a total of 4 foldings. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 72 hours.
To Assemble
Flour a work surface and knead the dough 10 to 12 times to activate the gluten. Shape the dough into a ball, cover the top lightly with flour, and cover with a tea towel and let come to room temperature. Line a tray with baking paper and set to one side.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to form a 42cm x 30cm rectangle. Spread the pistachio paste evenly out onto the dough leaving a 1 cm border all around then roll up firmly from the long edge. Using a very sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut the dough into 6-8 scrolls.
Set the rolls on a baking tray covered with baking paper, about 5 cm apart, cover with a cloth and leave the rolls to rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. Just before baking, brush each roll with some melted butter or cream. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes on the centre rack or until the rolls are golden brown, internal temperature has reached 90°C, rotating the pan halfway through. While the rolls are baking, prepare the lemon icing.
Icing
Place the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, salt and lemon rind into a medium size bowl. Using a hand beater, mix on medium until smooth and creamy. Add the icing sugar and mix on low until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on medium until the icing is light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Place the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, salt and lemon rind into a medium size bowl. Using a hand beater, mix on medium until smooth and creamy. Add the icing sugar and mix on low until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on medium until the icing is light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Remove the scrolls from the oven and leave to stand for about 10 minutes before spooning the icing over the top and sprinkling with chopped pistachios. Allow the buns to cool for about 30 minutes, then gently tear them apart to serve.
I was really tired the day I made the scrolls so every scroll was a slightly different size but once slathered with icing no-one could tell. I had my scroll while it was still warm and it was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.
See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.
Bye for now,
Jillian