Maritozzo
A soft sweet bun split almost in half and packed with an absurd quantity of whipped cream, then cut flush with a knife. Roman breakfast.
Photograph credit: Freshly baked Roman maritozzo (image of maritozzo on Wikidata Q3849360) by Gerjantd · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
The cream is barely sweetened and whipped to a stiff peak, because a soft cream slumps out of the split within minutes and a sweet one buries the bun. Fill far more than looks reasonable — a proper maritozzo is more cream than bread — then draw a palette knife across the open face in one pass to cut it flush. And the buns must be completely cold before splitting: warm bread melts the cream on contact and the whole thing weeps.
Quick Answers
How long does Maritozzo take to make?
30 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 3 hours of proving the dough twice, so allow 3 hours 50 minutes from start to finish. The method also needs time for cooling completely, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 8.
Maritozzo: Step by Step
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Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, eggs and warm milk to a dough and knead 10 minutes until smooth.
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Add the salt, orange zest and honey, then work in the butter a piece at a time.
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Cover and prove 2 hours, until doubled.
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Divide into 8 pieces, shape each into a tight oval and set them well apart on a lined tray.
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Prove 1 hour more, until puffed and touching.
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Bake at 170°C / 340°F fan / 190°C / 375°F / gas 5 for 18 minutes, until golden.
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Boil the water and sugar 2 minutes to a light syrup and brush it over the hot buns. Cool completely.
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Whip the cold cream with the icing sugar and vanilla to a stiff peak.
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Split each cold bun lengthways, not quite through, and pipe in far more cream than seems sensible.
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Draw a palette knife across each open face in one pass to level the cream, and dust with icing sugar.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Tips That Matter
- Barely sweeten the cream and whip it stiff.
- Cold buns only. Warm bread melts the cream.
- One pass with the knife. Going back and forth smears it.
Pairs Well With
Cappuccino · Standing at the bar · Nothing else before noon
Keeping and Reheating
Filled, refrigerated for 1 day. Unfilled buns keep 2 days or freeze 2 months.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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