I got this recipe from one of my favourite Italian food bloggers Adriano Contisio (http://profumodilievito.blogspot.com/). This is a recipe created by Adriano and I have to say that these buns are so soft and delicious that they make you forget the amount of time spent to make them (yes, this is not a quick recipe!). Forget calorie counting too and let them melt in your mouth. Truly delicious!
Ingredients
- Strong Canadian Flour, 450g
- Rice Flour, 50g
- Water, 200g
- White granulated sugar, 90g
- Honey, 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
- 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk
- Fresh yeast, 8g
- Salt, 8g
- Butter, 60g
- Maize oil (or peanut or rice oil), 40g
- Zest of an orange
- Egg white and sugar syrup for brushing
- Fresh Cream to decorate
Heat the water mixed with the orange zest, but do not boil. This step is required for the orange zest to release its flavour. Let cool down for a little bit, until the water is lukewarm. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water together with a teaspoon of honey. Add 200g of flour, mix well, and leave to rest in a warm place for an hour.
Put the mixture in a bowl, add some of the remaining white flour, the rice flour, part of the sugar and start kneading. Incorporate the whole egg with the rest of the flour and the sugar and continue kneading. Add the egg yolk, 1 tbsp of honey and the salt and keep on kneading the dough. Finally add the softened butter and while kneading incorporate the oil. Work the dough until soft and elastic - for at least 15-20 minutes. Cover the bowl with cling film or with a towel and leave to raise for about two hours.
Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a lightly floured surface and punch to remove the air pockets. Now fold like an envelope, bringing the four sides over the center of the dough. Cover again and leave to rest for half an hour.
Turn the dough out onto the work surface and cut into little balls, weighting approx. 80 grams each. Work each dough ball into a round shape, place onto the work surface, cover with a towel and leave to rest for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes turn the dough balls upside down, and re-shape them into a round shape. Cover with a towel and leave to raise for an hour. After an hour the dough balls should be light and fluffy.
Brush with egg white and transfer to a pre-heated oven to 180° for about 12 minutes, or until golden. When cooked, remove from the oven and brush again with sugar syrup. To make the sugar syrup mix 100g of water with 135g sugar, bring to the boil and remove from the heat once the syrup has thickened. When you brush the buns the sugar syrup temperature should be approximately 30°.
Once cold, perform a cut in the middle of the buns and fill with fresh cream. At this point bring one bun to your mouth and you will be in heaven!
Maritozzi all’Arancia di Adriano Contisio
Ho chiesto ad Adriano se potevo linkare la sua meravigliosa ricetta (con foto e spiegazioni dettagliate) ed eccola qua: http://profumodilievito.blogspot.com/2009/03/maritozzi-allarancia.html.