We baked
Maritozzi or Roman Cream Buns from a recipe by Emiko Davies for the month of june 2015.
Maritozzi (singular Maritozzo) are very fragrant
and soft sweet buns, filled with whipped cream. These buns are commonly served
especially during the breakfast hours in coffee bars in and around Rome (Lazio
region of Italy).
Traditionally the dough is flavoured with pine
nuts, raisins and candied orange peel, and once they’re baked the buns are
brushed with a sweet water and sugar syrup. After they have cooled, the
Maritozzi are cut in half (almost through but not all the way) and filled with
loads of smooth sweetened whipped cream.
If you prefer you can leave out the sweet glaze
and just lightly dust the Maritozzi with powdered sugar, which is what I did.
How Maritozzi are made - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7v3uz-pn18
Maritozzi Con La Panna (Roman Cream Buns)
(Adapted
from various sources)
For the buns:
1
½ tsp instant yeast( I used 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast proofed and added )
1/2 cup
warm milk
1¾ cups flour, plus more for dusting
1 egg (
I substituted by adding ½ cup milk )
1/4 cup
sugar
50 gm
butter, soft at room temperature
Pinch
of salt
1/8 cup
raisins, soaked in 2 to 3 tbsp warm unsweetened orange juice warm water for 10
minutes) *
1tbsp
pine nuts, lightly toasted*
Zest of
1 orange or 1 tbsp candied orange peel, finely chopped*
½ tsp
vanilla extract
For the glaze:
3 tbsp
sugar
3 tbsp
water
OR
Powdered
or icing sugar for dusting
For the filling:
500ml
fresh cream, whipped to stiff peaks with a few teaspoons of icing sugar (you
will need about 2 to 3 tablespoons of cream per bun), optional
Method :
To
the yeast add the warm milk, a teaspoon of the sugar and half a cup of the
flour in a bowl and mix with a spoon to
create a smooth paste. This is the starter or sponge.
Loosely cover the bowl and set it aside for 20
to 30 minutes. After this time the starter/ sponge would have risen a bit and
contain a lot of bubbles.
Put
this starter/ sponge, 1 cup of flour, the egg, the remaining sugar, butter, and
salt in the bowl of your processor and knead a little. Then add the raisins
(with the liquid), the pine nuts, the orange zest and the vanilla and knead
until you have a dough that is soft and smooth but not sticky. Add as much of
the remaining 1/4 cup flour (or more liquid) as you need to reach this
consistency of dough. If necessary stop kneading by machine once the dough has
come together reasonably well, and then knead by hand till soft and elastic.
Dust a little flour in a bowl, and place the ball of dough in it. Loosely cover and let it rise till double in volume (about 1 ½ to 2 hours).
Lightly
knead the dough to remove air pockets and divide the dough into 6 or 8 equal
portions, according to your preference. Roll each into a smooth ball and then
flatten it out into a circle with your fingers. Roll up the circle, jelly/
swiss roll style and seal the seam. Shape into an oval ad pace on a lined baking
sheet leaving enough space between the rolls for them to expand when they
rise.
If
you’re going to brush the buns with the sugar syrup, make it while they’re
baking, Boil the sugar and water together in a small pan, until the sugar
dissolves. Brush this syrup on the tops of the hot buns once you’ve taken them
out of the oven.
Let
the buns cool, completely. Then slit them, using a sharp knife, making sure you
don’t cut all the way through and keep one side intact.
Open them up slightly
and fill with whipped cream, making the edge smooth the flat side of a palette
knife or spoon. Moisten your fingers with a little water and hold each
Maritozzo carefully at its base, to avoid the sugar glaze sticking to your
fingers and pulling pieces of the brioche away.
Serve
with coffee. This recipe makes 6 or 8 buns.
Chef 's Recommendation :
I made this buns as eggless.
I didn't add any glaze or cream.
The buns were sweet so i didn't dust sugar.
As pinenuts are not available , i didn't add them.
Chef 's Recommendation :
I made this buns as eggless.
I didn't add any glaze or cream.
The buns were sweet so i didn't dust sugar.
As pinenuts are not available , i didn't add them.
