These classic Italian maritozzi (Italian cream buns) are brioche buns lightly flavoured with orange zest and honey, filled with a single fresh raspberry and whipped cream and garnished with chopped pistachios. A special treat that is easy to make and enjoy at home.
Classic Italian maritozzi (pronounced “mary-TOT-zee”), or maritozzo in the singular, are typically enjoyed in the morning with a cappuccino. I can’t think of a better way to start any day! Of course, you can enjoy these delicious pastries any time of day. And you should!
The name maritozzi comes from the word marito meaning husband. The singular maritozzo can be translated as almost husband. It is thought these pastries were once given by a husband to his future wife as a sign of love.
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes about the key ingredients …
Orange zest – While there is just a bit of orange zest in the dough, it is one of the ingredients you don’t want to skip. The background notes of citrus and honey are what makes these buns special.
Honey – Use any runny honey you enjoy. As noted above, the honey adds a lovely background flavour, but if not available, you can substitute maple syrup or golden syrup.
Pistachios – Roasted, lightly salted pistachios are perfect for these buns. You can certainly omit for a nut-free option.
Raspberries – Adding one single, perfect, fresh raspberry in the bun is such a nice addition. You could also use a small spoonful of raspberry jam.
How to make maritozzi
This is a summary of the steps to make maritozzi. Always refer to the Recipe Card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
- Start by making the dough. The dough will wrap the dough hook and clean the sides of the bowl, but will look sticky and will be sticking to the bottom of the bowl a bit.
- Remove the dough to a work surface and knead briefly, adding a bit of flour if it is sticking at all. Form into a ball and place into a greased bowl or large measuring cup. Grease or spray some plastic wrap and place the plastic wrap directly on top of the dough to prevent the top of the dough from drying out during the long rise. Set to rise until doubled at room temperature.
- Enriched dough can be a slow riser. Be patient and make sure it is allowed to rise until doubled, however long that takes. Count on about 2 – 2 1/2 hours.
- After the dough has risen, gently deflate, then weigh the dough ball. Mine here was 637g, but yours might be a bit bigger or smaller.
- Divide the dough ball weight by the number of buns needed and figure the weight for each bun. Weight out the dough portions. I’m making 10 buns here and each were 63g each.
- Remove the dough portions to the work surface.
- Form each dough piece into a ball by stretching the top and pinching together underneath.
- Place all the buns onto a large, parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with greased plastic wrap. Allow to rise until puffy.
- Before baking, brush the buns with an egg wash. Bake and allow to cool completely before filling.
- Once the maritozzi are completely cooled, cut the buns in half vertically. Place one fresh raspberry in the centre.
- Spread the bun as far open as you can without splitting it and over-fill the cavity with whipped cream.
- Use an offset spatula or the flat side of a knife to scrape the excess whipped cream off back into the bowl. Add a decorative rosette of whipped cream on top if you like and garnish with chopped pistachios.
Recipe tips!
- Ensure that your maritozzi are completely cooled before filling. Even a bit of warmth is enough to ruin the whipped cream filling.
- The maritozzi will seem a bit small at first, but once split and filled they will be bigger. I prefer to bake 10 medium buns myself.
- Whip the cream fairly stiff for best results.
- Adding the whipped cream to these buns is much easier than it may look. You simply need to over-fill and then use an offset spatula or the straight side of a knife to scrape it level.
- Maritozzi are best when they are filled with lots of cream! The best strategy is to use one hand to spread the bun open as far as possible and the other hand to pipe in the cream.
- You can pipe the whipped cream into the buns or spoon it in. You don’t need a tip to pipe it in. Simply snip the end off a piping bag or the corner off of a plastic bag.
- I used a Wilton 1D piping tip to pipe a rosette on top of the maritozzi.
- I love to bake these, enjoy a couple and freeze the rest of the unfilled buns. It’s easy to grab a couple out of the freezer, let thaw for 20-30 minutes them fill with cream to enjoy anytime.
Variations
You can use the dough to make small, medium or large maritozzi. Simply increase the number of buns to 12 for small buns or decrease it to 8 buns for large buns.
Change up the filling! Use any flavour of jam, lemon curd or custard to fill the maritozzi.
You can flavour the whipped cream as well. I have made raspberry and strawberry whipped cream filling. Chocolate or pistachio would also be great.
Making ahead, storing and freezing
If you want to make Maritozzi ahead, look at making just the buns ahead and freezing them. They will thaw quickly on the counter and while thawing, you can quickly whip some cream.
The buns themselves (unsplit and unfilled) can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Enriched dough buns such as these brioche buns tend to have a shorter shelf-life, so if you can’t eat them right away, it is best to freeze them to preserve the freshness. Wrap tightly and freeze for up to 3 months for longer storage.
Once filled, Maritozzi should be eaten within about 2 hours. They should be stored in the refrigerator after filling. Eat any leftovers quickly, as they decline quickly in the fridge, which is drying to the buns.
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Get the Recipe: Maritozzi
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons (90 g) milk, warmed to lukewarm, about 105F
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) active dry or instant yeast
- 2 2/3 cup (334 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 1/4 cup (54 g) white granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon (2 g) fine salt
- 1 Tablespoon (14 g) runny honey
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/4 cup (50 g) butter, at room temperature
For the egg wash before baking:
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 Tablespoon cold water
For filling after baking:
- 10 fresh raspberries, or raspberry jam
For the whipped cream:
- 2 cups (500 ml) whipping cream, 35% b.f.
- 4-6 Tablespoon icing/confectioners' sugar, adjust for sweetness preference
- Chopped pistachios, for garnish
Instructions
- TIp! For best results, use a kitchen scale and the weight measurements. If you don't have a scale, be sure you spoon and level the flour to avoid using too much flour.
- In a small bowl mix together the lukewarm milk and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the kneading hook, add the flour, white sugar, eggs, milk/yeast mixture, salt, honey and orange zest. Knead for about 5 minutes or until a moist but firm dough forms. It should clean the bowl at this point.
- Tip! I use a large 7 qt. mixer and I find that when adding the butter, the kneading hook doesn't grab the dough as it should. That could be specific to my mixer, but if you find that the kneading hook isn't moving/kneading the dough, switch to the paddle attachment and mix on Speed 1 for the 4 or 5 minutes. The dough should come together as it should, cleaning the bowl with only a bit of stickiness on the bottom of the bowl.
- With the mixer running, add the butter to the bowl in small pieces and knead into the dough. Continue kneading the dough for another 5 minutes or until the butter is fully mixed into the dough. The dough may look sticky, but it should clean the sides bowl with just a bit of stickiness on the bottom of the bowl.
- Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly, adding more flour only if the dough is sticking to your hands or the work surface. For the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 – 3 hours. (Yes, this is a slow-rising dough!)
- Tip! You can make small buns by dividing the dough into 12 pieces or large buns by dividing the dough into 8 pieces.
- Remove the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. If you have a kitchen scale, weigh the total ball of dough and divide by the number of buns you are making. If making 10, the weight for each piece is generally about 60-65 grams each). If you don't have a scale, try your best to evenly divide the dough into 10 pieces (or the number of buns you want.) Gently roll each bun into a small round shape by stretching out the top until it is smooth, then flipping it over and pinching the dough tightly. Flip back over with the smooth side up and cup your hand over the ball and gently rotate it on the work surface to seal the bottom of the bun.
- Place them onto a large parchment-lined baking sheet, allowing about 2 inches between them. Cover with a tea towel or greased plastic wrap loosely laid over top and let them rise for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 375F (regular bake setting/not convection or fan-assisted).
- Prepare the egg wash by mixing together the egg yolk and water in a small bowl.
- When ready to bake, brush the buns with the egg wash, ensuring you thoroughly cover the entire bun with egg wash right down to the bottom. Place into the preheated oven and bake for about 12-14 minutes or until nicely golden on top.
- Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling. *The buns must be completely cooled! Any bit of warmth in the buns will melt the whipped cream.
- Right before serving, place the whipping cream and icing sugar into a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a bowl with an electric beater). Beat the whipped cream until it reaches a medium-firm peak.
- Cut the maritozzi in half in the middle without cutting all the way through the bun.
- Use one hand to spread the bun open as widely. Place a single fresh raspberry into the bottom of the bun (or a small dollop of raspberry jam), then pipe or spoon the whipped cream filling into the bun, over-filling the bun slightly. Use an off-set spatula or the flat edge of a knife to scrape the excess whipped cream off the top, leaving it level with the edges of the bun.
- Garnish by sprinkling chopped pistachios over the whipped cream and dusting the buns with icing sugar.
- Tip! I used a Wilton 1D piping tip to pipe a rosette on top of the whipped cream before garnishing.
- The baked (and unfilled) maritozzi are best enjoyed within 24 hours of baking. You can freeze the maritozzi well-wrapped for up to 3 months. Thaw and room temperature for 20-30 minutes, then fill with whipped cream to serve. Once the maritozzi are filled, eat immediately or refrigerate and eat within 2 hours.
Notes
More sweet buns to love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
