Maritozzi - Italian Cream Buns

Maritozzi are little round, soft and fluffy, brioche-style buns, filled with vanilla whipped cream. These sweet, yeasted Italian cream buns taste totally irresistible.

These maritozzi are so fun to make and taste amazing. A sweet, soft bun is filled with what is essentially Chantilly cream, then dusted with icing sugar. They are absolutely delectable.

Now, grab yourself an espresso (or a cup of tea) and imagine you’re in Rome enjoying this treat from the local pasticceria.

Maritozzi (plural) or maritozzo (singular) are a Roman treat of a small bun made of enriched dough (a little brioche like) filled with whipped cream.

INGREDIENTS you'll need

Flour: You need to use a good bread flour or high gluten flour for these buns to get that lovely chewy texture.
Milk: Use whole milk for this recipe for the best texture and flavour.
Sugar: Just white granulated sugar for the dough and then some icing sugar (powdered sugar) for dusting the tops.
Yeast: This recipe is written using instant yeast or instant dry yeast, so this is your best bet. You can also use active dry yeast.
Milk powder: Milk powder adds to both the flavour and texture.
Oil: Use a neutral flavoured vegetable oil like canola or a light-flavoured olive oil.
Honey: Honey not only adds to the sweetness but also to the texture and puffiness of the buns, plus helps with that golden brown colour.
Vanilla: Use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Especially for the whipped cream filling, vanilla bean paste looks gorgeous providing all those little black flecks of vanilla.
Orange zest: Orange zest adds another little flavour profile and goes lovely with the cream filling. You can swap it for lemon filling or just leave it out if you prefer. They’ll still be delicious.
Eggs: A couple of eggs go into the dough to enrich it. A third one, the yolk only, is used in the egg wash for the top.
Cream: With different names around the world, you’re after thickened cream or heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. Basically, a cream of 35% milk fat or higher so that it can be whipped.

creamymax cream chargers

HOW TO MAKE

Make the tangzhong starter: In a small saucepan, whisk together the flour and water. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly for a minute or two until it turns into a thick paste. Set that aside.
Activate the yeast: In the bowl of a stand-mixer (best) combine the milk, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Give it a mix then let it sit for 5 minutes until you see it getting puffy. While instant yeast doesn’t technically need activating, active dry yeast does. By using this method, no matter what yeast you’re using, you know the yeast is alive and ready to use.
Combine dough: Now add all the other dough ingredients, finishing by adding the tangzhong starter. Start the mixer on the lowest setting just until the ingredients are combined, then turn it up to level 2 for 8 minutes.
Cover the dough in a large bowl with plastic wrap ad let it rise until about doubled in size.
Roll 12 small balls of dough by turning it in you palm as you continually pinch the sides in toward the bottom, until the tops are smooth.
Place the balls of dough on a baking sheet and let them rise again.
Brush them with egg wash, then bake.
Just combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl then beat with an electric mixer to stiff peaks. Be very careful not to overwhip the cream or it will become grainy.
Once cool, cut the maritozzi straight down the middle about ⅔ of the way through so you have a hinge at the bottom like a hotdog bun.
Spoon the cream into the opening, generously.
Use a flat edge like a bench scraper or spatula to scrape over the top for nice flat topping.