Rachel Roddy’s recipe for maritozzi cream buns

Quiet Rome. Tourists are avoided and the Romans, of a pragmatic nature, are at low levels. If I did, you end up at the Sistine Chapel, which is not a miracle, but the fact that you can see each brick on the mosaic floor. Plenty of pasta and hand gel is a way of life here, so there is very little change there. Men who sell garlic in the market are more in demand than usual, and children diligently count to 20 while they wash their hands and dab when they sneeze. Schools and universities are now closed for 15 days - a precaution for Lent.

Also in the Vatican, I saw various portraits of Pope Gregory, the great architect, around 600 AD, of the final division between the Patriarchs of Constantinople and the Bishop of Rome. Elisabeth Luard writes in her special book, European Seasonal Dishes, that Grégoire himself decided to lend it completely quickly until sunset, without the meat or dairy products used at the time. fast for 40 days. Subsequent popes have been more or less strict over time.

At one point in the Middle Ages, Roman bread and rolls, sweetened with honey and dried fruit, evolved into quaresimali (almond cookies for Lent). Quite limited to be considered vegetarian (without animal fat and not too sweet), quaresimali is - according to the Roman writer Livio Jannattoni - good enough to satisfy greed without putting you in a sinful position. . Maritozzi - today's recipe - is an 18th century name for a variant of quaresimali, separated and filled with ice cream, which is traditionally given to girls by girls to ensure that they become marito (husband) .

At this time of year, bakers and bars sell quaresimali and maritozzi, the latter usually with no added dried fruit and almost always with ice cream. Instead of giving up, I took things for Lent, and these are my two favorites, to buy in the bakery, eat at the bar with coffee and make at home. This recipe is partly from Carla Tomasi, partly from my friend Dan Etherington, and as a reliable and satisfied person.

One of the things I miss in Rome is a delicious ice cream. Although you can find ice cream, it is rarely something that interests you: it strikes, but only, and lacks substance and flavor. Not that it prevented me from buying it to recharge the maritozzi or on the gelato, where its moderate lightness was moderate. Fortunately, those of you can find whipped cream in velvet folds. Separate the lengths of cake, opening them as if they were splitting and, using a spatula, spread out in a thick layer with cream. Eat for breakfast.

Maritozzi
You can make the dough in a food processor with a dough hook, or by hand, mix and knead until you have a piece of slightly sticky but soft and smooth dough.

Prep/rise 2 hr 30 min
Cook 15 min
Makes 12-15

For the sponge
50g bread flour (manitoba)
20g caster sugar
1 tsp (10g) fast-action dry yeast or 20g fresh yeast
250ml lukewarm milk (or water for a vegan version)

For the main dough
240g bread flour
120g “00” flour
50g caster sugar
The zest of half a lemon
40g sultanas/pine nuts/candied peel, or a mix of the three (optional)
A pinch of fine salt
60g olive oil
1 egg yolk

To make icing
50ml of water
50g sugar

Preheat the oven to 200C (fan 180C) gas 6. Put the sponge, mix the flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl and add water. Stir well, then let stand for 15-20 minutes or until sponges foam.

Mix all ingredients of dry dough, add them to the sponge, add oil and egg yolks, and knead until smooth.

Put it back in a bowl of clean oil and leave for two hours, then it will double in size. Remove it from the bowl on a lightly oiled surface and shape it into a loaf.

Cut 35g of lumps for small maritozzi, 55g for larger ones, then shape the tumor into an oval shape by inserting the edges below. Place on a baking sheet lined with paper and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cake is inflated and dark yellow.

While they bake, warm the water and sugar until it froths into yeast, then sweep it on the cake as they come out of the oven.

MW