Cream-Filled Italian Pastries! Easy PASTICCIOTTI Recipe

Professional baker Anna Olson teaches you how to make these rich, creamy tarts at home! Inspired by her recent trip to Italy, Anna shares her simple, homemade recipe for this pastry made with sweet sugar dough and filled with a nearly-decadent flavoured pastry cream.

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• Recipe •

Makes 12 pastries

The pasticiotti are best served warm or at room temperature, but should be stored refrigerated (and can be served chilled) for up to 3 days.

• Notes •

The distinctive shape of these pastries require a special oval-shaped pan similar to friand pan. They are quite small and can be difficult to find. Using a muffin tin can work (you will get 8 pastries, not 12) but sealing and trimming the pastries is a challenge. Small 3-oz (90 mL) ramekins or individual tart pans are more effective for sealing and trimming the pastries.

You can also bake this dough and filling as a full-sized tart and then slice into portions after cooling. This dough and filling recipe fits perfectly into a 9-inch (23 cm) round fluted, removeable-bottom tart pan, and takes 35-40 minutes to bake at 350°F (180°C).

Feel free to switch up the flavour in your pasticiotti. A spoonful of Nutella (or spread ½ cup/125 mL if making the full-sized tart) under the pastry cream is delicious, or stir in 2 Tbsp (30 mL) of pistachio cream, almond butter or 2.5 oz (45 g) of dark chocolate into the warm pastry cream before chilling and using.

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• Ingredients •

Pasta Frolla:
2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp fine salt
½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into pieces
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk (save the white for brushing the pastries)

Pastry cream (Crema Pasticceria)
(my pastry cream from BW with 1 cup 35% cream and 1 cup milk) + lemon

⅔ cup (140 g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup (250 mL) whipping cream
1 cup (250 mL) 2% milk
6 large egg yolks
¼ cup (60 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tsp vanilla extract

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• Directions •

1. Make the pasta frolla. Stir the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and salt together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using electric beaters on low speed. Add the butter and work this into the flour on low speed until the mixture is evenly crumbly and no bits of butter are visible. Add the egg and egg yolk and continue to mix on low speed until the dough comes together – this can take a few minutes. Shape the dough into 2 discs, wrap and chill for at least two hours, or up to 2 days. Alternatively, the dough can be frozen for up to three months and thawed in the fridge overnight.

2. Make the pastry cream. Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and lemon together in a large saucepan, then whisk in the cream and milk, followed by the egg yolks. Place the butter and vanilla in a medium heatproof bowl and set a strainer on top.

3. Cook until thickened. Bring the milk mixture to a full simmer at just above medium heat while whisking constantly (but not vigorously) until it begins to bubble and is very thick, about 10 minutes. Pour the custard through the strainer, using the whisk to push it through. Remove the strainer and whisk the custard in the bowl until the butter has melted.

4. Cool and chill. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard, let cool on the counter for an hour and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

5. Assemble the pastries. Pull the chilled dough from the fridge at least 30 minutes before rolling and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place 12 oval pasticiotto pans on a parchment lined baking tray (see below for options if you don’t have these pans).

6. Roll the pasta frolla. On a very lightly floured surface, unwrap and knead the dough to soften it – this will make it easier to roll evenly and without it cracking. Roll out the dough to ¼-inch (6 mm) thick and use a round cutter to cut 12 discs of dough big enough to line each pan with a little overhang. Line each pan with the dough but do not trim away the excess yet. Roll the remaining dough, re-rolling any trim, and cut 12 smaller discs bigger enough to cover the tops of the pans. Set aside.

7. Fill and finish the pastries. Give the pastry cream a stir and using two spoons, a scoop or a filled piping bag, fill each pastry shell with enough pastry cream to come almost to the top of each pan. Gently place the second disc of pastry over the filled pan and use the edge of the pan to press the top pastry disc into the second, sealing and trimming it at the same time. Brush the tops of the pastries with the reserved egg white, gently whisked.

8. Bake the pastries for about 25 minutes, until an even golden brown on top. Cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.