Maritozzi are soft sweet rolls filled with whipped cream, delicious breakfast and snack cakes typical of Roman cuisine; served in every self-respecting bar in the capital and pastry shop in Lazio !
History
The origins of maritozzo date back to ancient Rome; it is said that women prepared it as a meal for farmers to work outdoors all day long.
It seems that in the middle ages maritozzo was a sweet prepared during Lent and enriched with pine nuts, raisins and candied; was one of the few “transgressions” granted during this period of abstinence.
With the passing of time, maritozzo has become a good wish for the future bride.
In fact, the boyfriends used to give to their women this loaf, which usually contained a small gift for the beloved.
The sweet name comes from this custom: maritozzo is in fact a popular way to say “husband”.
This gift was given to the girlfriend on the first Friday of March, the ancient Valentine’s Day and usually contained a jewel.
Today maritozzo is a sweet stuffed with custard or whipped cream that is easy to find in all the Roman pastries; depending on the area, is also called maritello or panmarito.
Fluffy loaves of bread filled with luscious whipped cream!
Try this recipe, it is super simple and will give you a lot of satisfaction.
[mv_create key=”18″ thumbnail=”https://eatalianrecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/18.jpg” title=”Maritozzi Cream Pastry” type=”recipe”]
MAKES: About 8 Maritozzi
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of lukewarm milk
- 6 tbsp of white sugar
- 2 tbsp of sunflower seed oil
- 1 medium egg
- 1 medium egg yolk
- 0.35 tsp of dehydrated brewer’s yeast (or 1/2 oz of fresh brewer’s yeast)
- 3/4 cup of raisins (soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, squeezed and dried)
- a pinch of salt
- 1 orange, zest grated
For the glaze
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp of water
For the filling
Whipped Cream as needed
DIRECTIONS:
Put the milk in a small saucepan, add the brewer’s yeast and stir with a teaspoon.
Strain the flour into a bowl and add the milk with the yeast.
Add a medium egg, sugar, and seed oil.
Knead for about 5 minutes.
Add orange zest or raisins (optional) and continue kneading.
We pull and “stretch” the dough to a ball that we will place in a lightly oiled glass bowl.
We cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 2 hours.
We knead briefly to deflate the dough.
We divide the dough into many small pieces of about 100 grams (3.53 oz) each.
We give each piece a spherical shape.
We place the balls on baking paper and let them rest for 1 hour.
We brush with a beaten egg.
We bake at 350 F , static for 15 to 20 minutes.
Heat 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons sugar to melt sugar.
We brush the maritozzi with the newly melted sugar.
We make a cut in the center of the maritozzo but do not divide it into two pieces and fill the cut with whipped cream.
We dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!
