• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Food and Journeys®
  • WORLD CUISINES
  • HOW-TOS
  • ABOUT
    • About Me
    • Notes on Copyright
    • Privacy Policy
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Categories
  • Countries
  • Global Pantry
  • About Me
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Categories
    • Countries
    • Global Pantry
    • About Me
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Pies

    Pasticciotto (Italian Cream Filled Pastry)

    Published: Nov 6, 2018 · Modified: Sep 3, 2023 by Neriz · This post contains some affiliate links.

    • 54
    Jump to Recipe

    Pasticciotto Leccese ticks all the boxes for what a perfect pastry should be — sweet, sumptuous, and irresistible!  An authentic Pugliese recipe you can easily make at home, so treat yourself to a serving of Italian cream filled pastry on your next break!

    An overhead shot of three pieces of Italian breakfast pastries, served with espresso.

    If there’s such a thing as ‘comfort pastry,’ that’s pasticciotto for me.

    What more could you ask for? Sweet, creamy, and with a bit of crispiness from the pastry. Yum.

    I discovered pasticciotti when we visited Puglia in the summer of 2016. In the southern part of that region, there’s a beautiful and charming city called Lecce — and this pastry is as ubiquitous as orecchiette (the region’s pasta). 

    So, what exactly is pasticciotto?

    It’s a sweet pie with an Italian pastry cream as its filling — quite similar to torta della Nonna (or Italian custard pie from Tuscany).

    Pasticciotto refers to one piece of pastry, and pasticciotti is its plural form.

    The locals typically enjoy pasticciotti as breakfast pastries, but I’ve also met some who would heat them after dinner and have them for dessert.  

    Still as delicious as they were in the morning.

    What is pasticciotti made of?

    Pastry crust at the bottom, Italian cream in the middle, and another pastry crust on top — that’s how you assemble a pasticciotto.

    So expect a perfect balance of crunch and soft and luscious cream in every bite. Simply delicious.

    Oh! And don’t worry, it’s really easy to make a traditional torta pasticciotto at home.  

    So give it a try, and I’m sure you’ll make it regularly for your friends and family soon enough! 

    FOR MORE AUTHENTIC ITALIAN RECIPES FROM THE SOUTH, CHECK OUT THESE POSTS!

    • An overhead shot of a basket of Biscotti Regina, served with coffee.
      Sicilian Sesame Seed Cookies (Biscotti Regina)
    • Latest (Jan23) feature image for Torta Caprese showing a slice of the cake.
      Torta Caprese (Flourless Italian Chocolate Cake)

    Ingredients

    Updated image showing all the ingredients you need to make Italian Cream Filled Pastry.
    • Eggs – make sure they’re at room temperature.
    • Cornstarch – in case you can’t find any cornstarch, potato flour is an excellent substitute.
    • Sugar – granulated white sugar is great for making pasticciotti.
    • Lemon – you would only be using the lemon zest for the cream (apologies, not included in the image above).
    • Milk – regular full-cream milk is preferred.
    • Pastry dough – if you already have a favorite recipe for making pastry dough, feel free to use that.  Otherwise, give my pasta frolla recipe a try!
    Two servings of Pasticciotti, served with coffee, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

    Preparation

    Start making pasticciotti by preparing your molds or muffin tins.

    Grease each one with some butter and a dusting of flour.

    Prepare the Italian pastry cream by heating milk on a small or medium-sized saucepan, placed over medium heat.

    Preparing the milk to start making Italian pastry cream filling for authentic pasticciotti from Puglia.

    While waiting for the milk, combine egg yolk, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest in a medium mixing bowl.

    Use a whisk to mix.

    Egg mixture for preparing pasticciotto crema.

    Slowly pour the heated milk on the egg mixture while constantly whisking the mixture.

    Do not pour the milk all at once, or you might end up cooking the eggs instead of making crema pasticciotto.

    Pour the pastry cream back into the saucepan and bring to a slow boil and until it has thickened to your desired consistency.

    Italian cream ready to be used as filling between the pasticciotti pastry dough.

    Set crema pasticciotto aside to cool.

    Preheat up the oven to 180°C (350°F).

    Start rolling your pasta frolla and place them on your molds or tins.  

    Leave some pastry dough hanging out on the tins’ side; you will be using this part later for sealing each pasticciotto.

    Pasticciotti molds fitted with the bottom Italian pastry crust before adding crema pasticcioto.

    Prepare (cut out) the pastry dough for covering the top of your pasticciotti as well.

    Use a spoon to add pastry cream to each tin.  Try not to put more than the top of the tin. 

    Adding crema pasticciotto as part of making authentic pasticciotto Pugliese.

    Cover each mold with the rest of the prepared pastry dough.  

    Fold the top part under the lower dough to seal the sides and ensure that no cream will seep through.

    Pasticciotti Lecesse ready for egg wash and baking, using their traditional pasticciotto molds.

    Brush pasticciotti with egg whites.

    Place in the oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes or until they turned golden.

    Serve — enjoy your pasticciotto Leccese with a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired.

    An overhead shot of pasticciotti, one of them cut into half, to show the cream inside.

    Helpful tips

    • If you are using your own pastry dough, try not to make it too sweet.  Remember that you are adding the cream later, and the resulting pasticciotto might become overly sweet.
    • Do not add the hot milk into the eggs all at once — or you’ll end up cooking the yolks.
    • Muffin tins or mini-tart forms are great alternatives if you don’t have the molds used in this recipe. I just got lucky that my mother-in-law gave them to me. 🙂

    But you can also find pasticciotti molds in Amazon Italy.

    A closer shot into the cream inside a pasticciotto.

    Can I add vanilla in the cream?

    Absolutely.

    Vanilla extract is fine, but using a vanilla pod is even better.

    What can I serve with it?

    Coffee.

    I always have mine with an espresso (and I would have it no other way).

    Pasticciotto is best served warm and heating it in the microwave for a few seconds will always do the trick.  

    Be careful when eating though, hot pastry cream CAN burn!  Enjoy!

    GET MORE IDEAS FROM THIS LIST OF INTERNATIONAL PIE RECIPES!

    FOR MORE EUROPEAN DISHES, YOU WILL LIKE THESE INTERNATIONAL RECIPES BY COUNTRY!

    • Feature image for Greek Recipes post.
      Traditional Greek Recipes
    • Feature image for Portuguese Recipes, as part of recipes by country.
      Easy Portuguese Recipes

    📖 Recipe

    Three freshly-baked pasticciotti sprinkled with powdered sugar and served wiith espresso.

    Pasticciotto Recipe (Italian Cream Filled Pastry)

    Pasticciotto Leccese ticks all the boxes for what a perfect pastry should be — sweet, sumptuous, and irresistible!  An authentic Pugliese recipe you can easily make at home, so treat yourself to a serving of Italian cream filled pastry on your next break!
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Italian
    Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 335kcal
    Author: Neriz

    Equipment

    • Mixing Bowls
    • Pyrex Measuring Cups
    • Measuring Spoons
    • Medium-Sized Saucepan
    • Whisk

    Ingredients

    • butter and flour, for greasing & dusting pasticciotti tins
    • 1 single crust pastry dough (or pasta frolla)

    For pasticciotti filling:

    • 2 large eggs, separated (yolks for the cream and whites for brushing the pastry)
    • 1 cup milk
    • 3 tbsp sugar
    • 2 tbsp cornstarch
    • 1 lemon, grated zest

    Instructions

    Prepare equipment:

    • Grease your pasticciotti tins or muffin forms with butter, and dust them with a bit of flour.

    Prepare the Italian pastry cream:

    • Heat milk on a small or medium-sized saucepan over medium heat.
    • While waiting for the milk, use a medium mixing bowl and combine the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest; then mix with a whisk.
    • Slowly pour the heated milk on the egg mixture while whisking continuously. Make sure you don't pour the milk all at once, or you might end up cooking the eggs.
    • Pour the pastry cream back into the saucepan and bring to a slow boil and until it has thickened to your desired consistency.
    • Set Italian pastry cream aside to cool.

    Assembling & preparing pasticciotto Leccese:

    • Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).
    • Roll your pastry dough using a rolling pin and arrange them on your greased pastry/muffin (pasticciotti) tins.
    • Leave some dough hanging on the side of the tins; you need this later for sealing the pastry.
    • Prepare (or cut out) the pastry dough for covering the top of each tin as well.
    • Spoon some pastry cream into each tin — do not fill to the rim. 
    • Cover each tin with the rest of the prepared pastry dough.  Fold the top pastry under the lower pastry to seal the sides and to keep the cream intact.
    • Brush the top of the pasticciotti with egg whites.
    • Place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the pasticciotti turned golden on top.
    • Serve and dust your Italian cream filled pastry with powdered sugar, if preferred.

    Notes

    • Cook’s Tip #1: Feel free to use your own pastry dough, but check that it’s not too sweet.  Remember that you are adding the cream later, and the resulting pasticciotto might become extremely sweet.
    • Cook’s Tip #2: If you don’t have the pasticciotti molds that I used in this recipe, muffin tins or mini-tart forms are great substitutes.
    • Cook’s Tip #3: Make sure you don’t add the hot milk with the eggs all at once — or you’ll end up with cooked yolks.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 335kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 404mg | Potassium: 168mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 234IU | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 3mg
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @foodandjourneys or tag #foodandjourneys!

    More Pies from Around the World

    • Alsatian apple tart sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, ready for serving.
      Alsatian Apple Tart
    • A closer shot of traditional apple pie from Germany, using green apples.
      German Apple Pie
    • Freshly-baked German leek pie, highlighting its golden color.
      German Leek Pie
    • A closer shot of Finnish blueberry pie, highlighting the texture of the filling and golden crust.
      Finnish Blueberry Pie (with Sour Cream)

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laura Wright

      November 28, 2018 at 9:57 am

      Hi Neriz, I have noticed that your list of ingreedients for the Pasticciotto does not contain eggs but you mention eggs in the insturctions can you advise how many eggs are required.

      Reply
      • Neriz

        November 28, 2018 at 10:09 am

        Oj! Thank you for your comment Laura. I really appreciate the correction.

        I have now updated the recipe with the quantity of the eggs. 🙂

        Reply
    2. Dorothy Bermudez

      February 14, 2021 at 9:58 pm

      You may be able to find the tins at pastry chef central. They have wonderful pans and molds for baking and at a really decent price too. And they ship quickly.

      Reply
      • Neriz

        February 15, 2021 at 10:56 am

        Thanks for the tip Dorothy! Much definitely check it out. 🙂

        Reply
    3. Terry Schera

      September 01, 2023 at 7:07 am

      Please tell me where to find the tins to bake the Pasticiotto in.
      I can’t find them anywhere.

      Reply
      • Neriz

        September 04, 2023 at 1:13 pm

        Hej Terry, you can find a variety of them on Amazon Italy.

        Reply
    5 from 3 votes (3 ratings without comment)

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Latest Pic, 2025 for food and journeys sidebar.

    Hej there!

    A smorgasbord of traditional and delicious international recipes awaits you, so feel free to look around and pick your favorites. No need to leave your kitchen to experience the real deal!

    More about me →

    Image for listing as-featured-on

    Feature of the Month: Filipino Cuisine

    Feature image for Filipino Recipes post, a serving of pancit bihon with a slice of lemon.

    Spring Favorites

    • Freshly-baked German leek pie, highlighting its golden color.
      German Leek Pie
    • Feature image for Roasted Fennel showing the dish straight out of the oven.
      Roasted Fennel (Creamy & Cheesy!)
    • Feature image for asparagus risotto, showing a serving of it, topped with grated parmigiano.
      Asparagus Risotto (Risotto agli Asparagi)
    • Feature image for German Leek Soup, highlighting the creaminess of the soup-
      German Leek Soup

    Popular Posts

    • Two servings of German Potato Soup (Kartoffelsuppe). Both creamy potato soup servings are garnished with spring onions.
      German Potato Soup (Kartoffelsuppe)
    • A closer shot of kanelbullar on a cooling rack, highlighting the filling of the buns.
      Swedish Cinnamon Buns (Kanelbullar)
    • An overhead shot of a skillet of Spanish Garlic Chicken, straight out of the oven.
      Spanish Garlic Chicken (Pollo Al Ajillo)
    • Arroz de Tomate in a pan, ready for transferring to serving plates, with fresh cherry tomatoes next to it.
      Portuguese Tomato Rice (Arroz de Tomate)
    • Latest feature image for drommekage, highlighting the texture of the cake.
      Danish Dream Cake (Drømmekage)
    • Three freshly-baked pasticciotti sprinkled with powdered sugar and served wiith espresso.
      Pasticciotto (Italian Cream Filled Pastry)
    • An image showing two bowls of Finnish Salmon Soup served with some bread.
      Finnish Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto)
    • An overhead shot of a bunch of freshly baked taralli, served with a shot of espresso, with scaterred fennel seeds on the background.
      Taralli (Italian Crackers)
    • Swedish Almond Tart
      Swedish Almond Tart
    • Latest feature image (Apr23) for Filipino picadillo showing the dish on a plate.
      Filipino Picadillo
    • Latest feature image for Salt and Pepper pork belly, showing the slices garnished with more chili.
      Salt and Pepper Pork Belly
    • A slice of cardamom sponge cake, served with a cup of coffee.
      Swedish Cardamom Cake

    Favorite Snacks

    • Fried panzerotti served with a glass of wine, for snack.
      Panzerotti (Panzarotti)
    • A collage of flammkuchen toppings to choose from.
      Classic Flammkuchen (+ More Flammkuchen Toppings!)
    • Freshly cooked panelle from Palermo, served with a dustingg of ground black pepper.
      Panelle (Sicilian Chickpea Fritters)
    • Chocolate balls served with coffee, for afternoon snack.
      Swedish Chocolate Balls (Chokladbollar)

    Sweet Treats

    • Traditional Swedish Cakes that you can easily make at home.
      Traditional Swedish Cakes: Make Them at Home!
    • Latest (Oct22) feature image for fika post, showing some Swedish treats, and coffee and tea in the background.
      What is Fika? (Fika Meaning + Recipes)
    • Latest (Oct22) feature image for Easy Italian Desserts and Pastries post.
      Easy Italian Desserts & Pastries Recipes
    • Latest (Oct22) Feature image for Traditional German Desserts and Pastries.
      Traditional German Desserts and Pastries

    Popular Cuisines

    • Latest feature image for authentic Swedish recipes, showing västerbottenostpaj, a midsummer favorite.
      Authentic Swedish Recipes
    • Feature image for Italian recipes by region post.
      Italian Recipes by Region
    • Feature image for German Recipes post.
      Authentic German Recipes
    • Feature image for Portuguese Recipes, as part of recipes by country.
      Easy Portuguese Recipes
    • Feature image for Traditional Spanish Recipes, a pan of espinacas con garbanzos.
      Traditional Spanish Recipes
    • Feature image for Finnish Recipes post.
      Easy Finnish Recipes
    • Feature image for Greek Recipes post.
      Traditional Greek Recipes
    • Feature image for Lebanese Recipes post.
      Lebanese Recipes

    Footer

    Policy

    • Privacy Policy

    Contact

    • About Me

    Copyright

    • Notes on Copyright

    A PARTICIPANT IN THE AMAZON ASSOCIATES PROGRAM, AN AFFILIATE ADVERTISING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A MEANS FOR SITES TO EARN ADVERTISING FEES BY ADVERTISING AND LINKING TO AMAZON.COM.

    Copyright © 2025. FOOD AND JOURNEYS®

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.