I maritozzi di Mamma Graziella

Here is another appointment with our sweet cook Mamma Graziella!

Today we prepare the Maritozzi. You may have seen (and tasted) them already in our neighbour regions: they may have the same name, yet they are different in what’s inside. The ones that are traditional in Rome, for instance, are usually without raisins and eaten together with cream, whereas our Maritozzi are even with a longer shape, with raisins in them and covered with frosting. The name may come from a funny nickname of husbands mariti, since they were usually given as a present to the brides-to-be, especially in Lazio. But in Le Marche, they were usually baked by the women of the farm, ready to be eaten from the men at work, right after having come home from the work in the fields in the evenings. Originally they were without eggs: they could be easily taken out even for days. They used to be baked together with the bread, hence once a week!

For this reason, they were, and are still nowadays, quite common to find in the bakeries, and delicious to eat every day of the year!

Ingredients         

• 2 eggs
• 200gr sugar
• 120gr milk
• 75 gr melted butter
• juice of 3 oranges
• grated rind of 3 organic oranges
• salt – 1 pinch
• 100 gr raisins
• 50 gr  yeast
• about 800 gr flour 00

For the frosting

• 1 egg white
• 100 gr sugar

Soak the raisins for about half an hour (in a little milk would be perfect). Mix the brewer’s yeast in slightly warm milk. In a bowl, break the eggs, add the sugar and mix with for a few minutes. Combine the milk with baking powder, melted butter, salt, zest and orange juice. Mix everything and add the flour to rain. You should obtain a soft, but well workable, elastic and smooth dough. Cover the dough and leave to rise until doubled. Work the dough and add the raisins. Divide it into small pieces (about 60-70 gr each). With your hands give the shape of a stick about 10 cm long, place them on the pan (not very far from one another) cover them with a light cloth and put them to rise a second time. When they are the desired shape and they will be attached to each other, bake at 180 ° for about 15 minutes or until they are almost dark. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting by mixing the egg white with the electric mixer with the sugar. Brush the Maritozzi when still warm with the white icing and put in the oven for a few minutes so that the glaze dries and forms a light crust.

Take a look at our video and.. Buon appetito!