Easy Homemade Pasticciotto Recipe (2024)

Pasticciotto Leccese is a delicious traditional Italian pastry, typical of the cuisine of Salento in Apulia, particularly in the province of Lecce, from which it takes its name.

It's a small, oval-shaped pastry made with shortcrust dough and typically filled with a delicious Crema Pasticcera (custard cream). Crispy on the outside and crumbly in texture, but with a creamy heart, it's a real treat!

In addition to the traditional recipe with Italian pastry cream alone, a version with custard and black cherries in syrup is also popular. This is a version of the Campania tradition, as we will see in the next paragraphs.

A good pasticciotto must have a crumbly dough that blends with the cream inside. The top should be shiny, golden and slightly rounded.

In Puglia, pasticciotto is usually eaten for breakfast or as a dessert, often with a cup of coffee, tea or milk. It's delicious hot, fresh from the oven or even at room temperature.

While baking, pasticciotto give off an intense and delicious aroma that will inebriate you. Pasticciotti are said to put you in a good mood, which can only be true!

If you visit Puglia, one of the things you will remember is the scent of freshly baked pasticciotti wafting through the narrow streets of the small towns.

Follow our step-by-step recipe and you will be making homemade pasticciotto in no time!

The basic tools for making the homemade pasticciotto recipe are first of all those needed to prepare the custard and the shortcrust pastry.

So definitely a kitchen whisk for the pastry cream. Then a rolling pin and a marble pastry board for rolling out the shortcrust pastry.

But definitely the most important and characteristic tool is the PASTICCIOTTO MOLD. The traditional shape of pasticciotti is oval and the size is about 10 cm x 6 cm x 3 cm, but sometimes they are a little smaller. the convenient use of single-portion aluminium molds or silicone molds.

Pasticciotto Recipe: Instructions

Storage

Yo can store homemade pasticciotto for 2 to 3 days after baking. It's best to keep them refrigerated in an airtight container.

We recommend that you eat the pasticciotti while they are still warm or at room temperature; the cream inside should not be too cold.

Therefore, do not forget to take the pasticciotti out of the refrigerator about an hour before serving.

Can I Freeze Pasticciotto?

Yes, you can freeze homemade pasticciotto.

You can freeze it while it's still raw. When it's time to cook them, don't thaw them. Go straight from the freezer to the oven to bake.

You can also freeze cooked pasticciotto. Wrap each pasticciotto tightly in plastic wrap, making sure there is no air inside. Alternatively, use freezer bags.

The pasticciotto will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Remove the pasticciotto from the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. You can reheat the pasticciotto in the oven.

Can I Make Pasticciotto Ahead of Time?

Yes, You can make pasticciotto ahead. Here's how to do it:

You can prepare the pastry and the cream the day before and refrigerate them separately for 24 hours.

Or you can assemble the pasticciotto, filling the pastry with the cream and sealing the top with another layer of pastry.

At this point, you have two options for storing the assembled pasticciotto:

a. Store in the refrigerator: Place the assembled pasticciotto in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking. This method works well if you plan to bake and serve within one day.

b. Freeze: Place the assembled pasticciotti on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for 1 to 2 hours or until firm. Then transfer the pasticciotti to a plastic bag or airtight container and store in the freezer for up to one month.

Making pasticciotto ahead of time allows you to enjoy these delicious Italian pastries at your convenience, whether for breakfast, dessert, or a special occasion.

Pasticciotto Variations

The traditional Pasticciotto Leccese is a short pastry filled only with custard.

However, there are many variations that have spread throughout Italy over time. Let's see some of them.

• Pasticciotto with Cherry in Syrup (Neapolitan Pasticciotto): Certainly the most popular, and now considered a classic, is the one with black cherries in syrup inside. This one, however, is of Neapolitan origin. Pasticciotto with cream and Amarena cherries, in its Neapolitan version, is made with lard pastry, which makes it very crumbly. This delicacy is very reminiscent of another Campanian preparation, the Crostata Amalfitana. A cake similar to the famous Torta della Nonna with the addition of black cherries in syrup.
• Chocolate Pasticciotto: You can make Pasticciotti Leccesi with chocolate shortcrust pastry. This gives you a very tasty black and white version. For the cocoa shortcrust, simply add 45 g (~6 tablespoons) of unsweetened cocoa powder to the dough.
• Apple Pasticciotto: You can also add apple pieces and a little cinnamon to the custard. Apple and pastry cream is a great classic combination. Decorate Apple Pasticciotto with slivered almonds and powdered sugar.
• Ricotta Pasticciotto: Ricotta fillings with candied fruit are also excellent. A filling very similar to the famous Neapolitan pastiera. Important: Pasticciotti can also be filled with the cream of your choice (pistachio, almond or hazelnut for example), as long as it is a cream that can be baked. Creams filling with whipped cream, such as diplomatic cream or mascarpone cream, are not suitable.

Curiosities

Pasticciotto Obama

It's the fall of 2008, the height of the American election campaign.

In Campi Salentina, a small town in the province of Lecce, master pastry chef Angelo Bisconti is experimenting with a new kind of pasticciotto.

A cocoa-based version of the typical Lecce dessert, both in the pastry and in the filling.

He therefore decided to pay homage to the newly elected American President Obama by dedicating this chocolate version of the pasticciotto to him.

Pasticciotti Leccesi at the wedding of George Clooney

In 2014, at the wedding of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin in Venice, among the many delicacies of star chefs, there were up to 2,000 Pasticciotti Leccesi.

These pastries were requested by the groom himself.

Piero De Lorenzis, a pastry chef from Galatina (Lecce), brought these wonderful sweets to the wedding banquet.

After all, the Hollywood actor is known to be a foodie and loves Italian cuisine!

Pasticciotto and Pope Wojtyla

It's said that Pope Wojtyla, during his pastoral trip to Puglia, visited the pastry shop of Ascalone (inventor, as we will see in the next paragraph, of Pasticciotto).

The Pope liked Pasticciotto Leccese so much that in later years he had it delivered several times a week for breakfast.

The story goes that Pasticciotto Leccese was brought to Brindisi in the very early hours of the morning, and from there took the 6 a.m. flight to Vatican City to arrive in time for the Holy Father's breakfast.

True or not, Pasticciotto Leccese has won over everyone for the authenticity of its ingredients, its exquisite taste and its irresistible aroma!

Pasticciotto Leccese: Origins

The inventor of pasticciotto was undoubtedly a pastry chef from Galatina (a town near Lecce), Nicola Ascalone, in 1745.

It was the 24th of June and the patron saint's feast of Saints Peter and Paul was approaching.

For the occasion, as every year, Galatina filled considerably with visitors.

It's said that Ascalone was struggling financially at the time and, in search of better luck, spent his days experimenting with new pastry recipes for this important day.

Once, he decided to mix leftover pastry and cream after baking a cake and tried to make a much smaller one.

The result, however, did not shock him too much. It was, in fact, a decidedly improvised cake, a "pasticcio," hence the name Pasticciotto. "Pasticcio" in Italian means "something badly made, arranged."

So Ascalone, dissatisfied, immediately gave the still-warm treat to a passer-by who, however, was delighted and kept complimenting him.

The passerby turned out to be Don Silvestro, the village priest who visited the confectioner every morning.

The priest immediately fell in love with the little cake and, to Ascalone's amazement, ordered more.

Don Silvestro became the best advertisem*nt for his new creation: word spread throughout the village and the pasticciotti began to sell like hot little cakes.

Today, the Ascalone Bakery is still in its historic location in Galatina, near the Chiesa Madre.

Over the centuries it has been handed down from generation to generation and is now run by the sons of Andrea Ascalone, who passed away in 2015 and is known throughout Italy as the best pasticciotti master of recent times.

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