Have you ever heard of maritozzo, or better yet: have you ever tried these delicious buns? A maritozzo is an Italian bun filled with cream. Do you know this delicacy by the name maritozzi? That could be right. One bun is called a maritozzo, but several buns are called maritozzi.
It’s a delicious bun, I can tell you! In this recipe, I’ve flavored the soft buns with orange and lemon zest and vanilla. It gives them a delightful taste, which pairs perfectly with the creamy filling.
With this maritozzi recipe, you can make 12 filled Italian buns.
What is maritozzi?
Maritozzi are soft, fluffy buns with a delightful creamy filling. The buns are an Italian delicacy. Specifically, they originate from Rome and are many centuries old. And did you know that the name maritozzo is linked to love, as marito means husband?
There are multiple stories about the origin of these buns, which is often the case with centuries-old delicacies. One story is that a maritozzo was eaten after a marriage proposal. Another story claims that maritozzi were only sold and eaten on Sundays after the Catholic Mass.
Delicious tips for the filling
Although the basic filling consists of whipped cream, you can get creative with it. Consider these delicious options:
- You can use the whipped cream as a filling and further garnish the maritozzi as desired, for example with chopped pistachios, chocolate shavings, or strawberry slices.
- You can also choose to flavor the cream with, for example, homemade pistachio paste or vanilla seeds.
- It’s also delicious to first pipe some of your favorite jam, hazelnut spread, or pistachio spread into the split buns before filling them with cream.
- These maritozzi are also very tasty if you serve them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream instead of whipped cream.
How to make fluffy maritozzi
The flour I use plays an important role in the light and fluffy texture of the buns. I use Manitoba flour, which is Italian flour with a high protein content. Manitoba flour is perfect for baking light buns. You could also use American bread flour. Make sure to use flour with a protein content of at least 12%, otherwise, the dough remains stickier and won’t rise as nicely. The dough for the buns remains a bit soft and sticky, don’t be alarmed by that. If you’ve never baked bread before, this might be a more challenging recipe as the dough is a bit trickier to handle.
How to store maritozzi?
Freshly baked buns are the best. Unfilled, you can store them for up to 2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze the unfilled maritozzi for 2-3 months.
It’s best to serve the buns right after filling them. If you still want to store the filled maritozzi, do so for a maximum of 2 days in the refrigerator. Take the buns out of the refrigerator a little before serving, so they can come to room temperature.
- For the dough
- 8 g dried yeast or 24 g fresh yeast
- 200 ml whole milk, at body temperature
- 500 g Manitoba flour
- 2 medium eggs, at room temperature
- 20 g honey
- 60 g caster sugar
- 10 g salt
- 100 g unsalted butter, cold and in cubes
- seeds from ½ vanilla pod (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- zest of ¾-1 orange
- zest of ¾-1 lemon
- For brushing
- 1 medium egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- Also needed
- 500 ml heavy cream
- 60 g granulated sugar
- 1 sachet cream stabilizer (8 g) (optional)
- powdered sugar, for dusting
Making maritozzi yourself
The dough is easiest to make in a stand mixer with a dough hook, but you can also do it by hand. The dough is slightly sticky after adding the butter. Don’t worry about this, it’s normal.
Put the yeast and milk in a bowl and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add all other ingredients for the dough, except the butter, and knead everything for about 10 minutes with the dough hook until it forms a smooth dough. I use a KitchenAid stand mixer and knead on setting 2. After 10 minutes, add the cold butter cubes and knead the dough for another 5 minutes, until the butter is incorporated into the dough. Right after adding the butter, it may seem like it isn’t being absorbed into the dough, but if you keep kneading, it will come together. Towards the end of the kneading time, add the vanilla seeds and the orange and lemon zest.
Letting the dough rise and shaping maritozzi
Turn the dough out onto the work surface and shape it into a ball. In a separate article, I explain everything about step-by-step shaping dough. If the dough is very sticky, use some neutral oil to lightly grease the work surface and your hands. Put the shaped dough back into the bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for about 1-1½ hours in a warm, draft-free place until the dough has doubled in volume.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the risen dough into 12 portions of about 80 grams each. Shape the portions of dough into small balls. Need more guidance on how to do this? Check out my detailed article on step-by-step shaping small buns. After shaping, roll the balls slightly oval and place them on the baking sheet. Let the buns rise for 1-1½ hours until they have doubled in volume. A handy way to let the buns rise is by turning your oven into a sort of proofing box. You won’t need to cover the dough then. Place a roasting pan or baking dish with a small layer of boiling water at the bottom of an (off) oven. Slide the two baking sheets with buns above it and close the oven door.
Baking maritozzi
Preheat the oven to 200°C (392°F) (make sure to remove the baking sheets and the dish with water first!). Beat the egg with the heavy cream and brush the risen dough balls with the egg mixture. Bake the buns for 14-18 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Let the buns cool on a wire rack.
Filling maritozzi
Put the heavy cream with the sugar and optional cream stabilizer in a bowl and whip the cream with a (hand) mixer until stiff peaks form. Cut the cooled buns lengthwise at the top and fill the buns with the whipped cream. Smooth the top of the cream with a (palette) knife. Finally, dust the maritozzi with powdered sugar using a tea strainer.
Photos: Erik Spronk
