Pasticciotti

Name: Pasticciotti
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 0
Ingredients: Type 00 flour 4 cups; Butter 1.1 cups; Egg yolks 4; Vanilla bean 1; Powdered sugar 1.6 cups; Type 00 flour 0.4 cup; Milk 2 cups; Egg yolks 6; Vanilla bean 1; Sugar ¾ cup; Black cherried in syrup to taste; Egg yolks 1; Fresh liquid cream 3 spoonfuls

431

Calories per serving

Vegetarian

Energy Kcal 431
Carbohydrates g 55
of which sugars g 26.9
Protein g 7.7
Fats g 20.1
of which saturated fat g 10.59
Fiber g 0.9
Cholesterol mg 243
Sodium mg 25

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 35 min
Cost: Low
Note Quantities for 15 pasticciotti approximately 3 cm high and 7 cm long

PRESENTATION

If you've ever been to Lecce, you may have noticed that the typical breakfast doesn't include the classic croissant but a delicious and fragrant dessert, to be eaten strictly warm: the pasticciotto!
Pasticciotti are symbols of Salento pastry and consist of a crispy shortcrust pastry shell with a custard filling; the most common variant includes a delicious cherry filling and we tried both versions: they are delicious!
The traditional recipe calls for the pasticciotti's shortcrust pastry to be made with lard; in our recipe, we used classic shortcrust pastry with butter.
Pasticciotti are fragrant little sweets that seem to encapsulate all the color and warmth of the Salento sun!

For a maxi version, also try our pasticciotto cake!

INGREDIENTS

431

Calories per serving

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry: Type 00 flour 4 cups (500 g); Butter 1.1 cups (250 g); Egg yolks 4; Vanilla bean 1; Powdered sugar 1.6 cups (200 g)

for the filling: Type 00 flour 0.4 cup (50 g); Milk 2 cups (500 ml); Egg yolks 6; Vanilla bean 1; Sugar ¾ cup (150 g); Black cherried in syrup to taste

for brushing: Egg yolks 1; Fresh liquid cream 3 spoonfuls

Preparation

How to prepare Pasticciotti

To make the pasticciotti, start by preparing the custard (click here for the recipe card): heat the milk over low heat with the opened vanilla bean. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks well with the sugar 1 and add the sifted flour. Then, add this mixture to the milk 2 and stir constantly over low heat with a whisk. Let the custard thicken and cool down 3 in the refrigerator with a piece of plastic wrap in contact.

Meanwhile, prepare the shortcrust pastry using the instructions you can find here: put the flour and cold butter in the mixer 4 and blend to obtain a sandy and floury mixture, which you will transfer to a work surface. Add the sugar, vanilla bean seeds, and egg yolks 5 and quickly knead everything until you get a compact and fairly elastic dough 6. Wrap the shortcrust pastry in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.

After the shortcrust pastry has rested, roll it out on a floured surface 7 with a rolling pin, so that it is about a quarter-inch thick. Line all the molds, already buttered and floured, with the pastry (8-9).

Insert 2 teaspoons of custard in each mold 10 and, if you like, a cherry 11. Cover the mold with the remaining shortcrust pastry and trim off the excess dough so that the edges are well squared 12.

Beat one egg yolk with a couple of tablespoons of milk or cream and brush the surface of the pasticciotti 13. Place the molds on a baking sheet 14 and bake them in a preheated oven at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. When the pasticciotti are golden brown 15, take them out, let them cool down, and enjoy them still warm!

Storage

Store the pasticciotti in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and leave them at room temperature for about an hour before eating, or give them a slight warm-up.
You can freeze the raw pasticciotti, complete with custard and cherry, leaving them in their mold and baking them from frozen in the oven at 350°F for 40 minutes.

Advice

Specific oval molds about 1.18 inches high are used for pasticciotti, but if you don't have them, you can make them in fluted bocconotti molds or round molds.
If the pasticciotti puff up during baking, don't worry: as they cool, the custard will settle, and your pasticciotti will be perfect again!

Curiosity

It is said that the pasticciotto was born in 1745 in Galatina, in the province of Lecce, in a local pastry shop by chance, with some leftover shortcrust pastry and custard. Those who tasted it, warm and freshly baked, fell in love with it, and the fame of these delicious pastries spread throughout the province.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.