One of the many benefits of taking part in group challenges is the learning that comes with the cooking of delicious dishes! Until the start of this month I never knew that there was a bun called Maritozzo!!
But when this was chosen to be the bread of the month for Aparna’s We Knead To Bake as suggested by Niv, another member in our group, I expected it to be a bit elaborate to make.But I was mistaken!Had I known that it would be so easy to make,I would have baked this long back!
I made this last night.The house smelt wonderful and the kids could not wait for it to come out of the oven! I am no expert in shaping the buns and they were not all that even yet when they came out of the oven, they looked so good!And the texture was so good,so soft, that I fell in love with it instantly.
Here is what this bun is all about….
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.
The
Maritozzi dough is essentially slightly enriched brioche dough, and a
less rich version uses only orange zest for flavouring the dough and
raisins. This version is also quite popular and is served without the
cream filling.
Maritozzi Con La Panna (Roman Cream Buns)
(Adapted from various sources)
For the buns:
Instant yeast-1 1/2 teaspoon
Warm milk-1/2 cup
Flour-1 3/4 cups plus more for dusting
Sugar-1/4 cup Butter, soft at room temperature-50 gm
Pinch of salt
Raisins-1/8 cup- soaked in 2 to 3 tablespoons of warm water 10 minutes
Pumpkin seeds- 1 tablespoon, lightly toasted*
Zest of 1 lemon *
Vanilla extract-1 teaspoon
Powdered or icing sugar for dusting
Method:
Take the warm milk, 1 teaspoon sugar, the yeast and half a cup of the flour in a large 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 bubbles.
Add 1 cup of flour, the remaining sugar, butter, and salt into the starter / sponge bowl
and knead a little. Then add the raisins (with the liquid), the pumpkin seeds, the lemon 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. Knead 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 8
equal portions. 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.Loosely
cover and let them rise for about 30 minute.
Bake them 180C (350F) for
15 to 20 minutes or till they’re puffed up and a golden brown colour on
the top and the bottom. Don’t over bake or the bottoms will darken/ burn
and the buns will lose their softness. Cool on a wire rack.
Serve with coffee
Note:
- I served it dusted with icing sugar. Here are the other ways these buns can be served.
You need
For the glaze:
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp water
OR
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)
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.
- The original recipe calls for orange zest but I have used lemon zest.
- Also pine nuts are used in the original recipe.Since I don’t get them here, I have used pumpkin seeds.
- I used a mix of brown and black raisins.
- I used 1/8 cup extra flour in addition to the quantity mentioned above.
- I felt the dough did not rise too much / as it normally should. Yet the buns were soft and good to taste.
Bon Appetit…
