You may have seen the latest viral dessert on your TikTok feed appear in the form of an overstuffed cream bun. Known as ‘maritozzo’, these sweet Italian pastries are usually filled with loads of whipped cream and dusted in icing sugar. Although they date back to ancient Rome, they are becoming the latest craze thanks to Dolce VyTa in Covent Garden.
Located next door to the popular Italian restaurant VyTa in Covent Garden market, this bakery is a new collaboration between VyTa’s head chef Filippo Bellani and pastry chef Matteo Manzotti. Dolce VyTa is next door to the restaurant and is super easy to find and at 12 noon on a Tuesday the queue was already quite long.
Open every day of the week from noon, the menu is quite small and there are no tables, so you have to find somewhere in the market or outside to sit up before indulging in the rather messy maritozzos. I decided to go for the most popular item on the menu, the maritozzo dipped in pistachio sauce and finished with a pistachio crumble (£6.50), but many around me opted for a Valentine’s special only available this week (until Sunday 18 February). ), consisting of raspberries, Chantilly cream, raspberry jam and cotton candy.
Other options include a classic maritozzo filled with Chantilly cream and vanilla (£4.50), and a chocolate maritozzo dipped in sauce and covered in chocolate chips (£6). Alongside the sweet buns is a selection of hot drinks, including the popular cappuccino and hot chocolate. There are currently no vegan or gluten-free options but dairy-free milk can be chosen in hot drinks.
After watching the talented bakers fill the pastries to the max with cream, I decided to head to the market and found a quiet place to eat without too many people noticing the cream on my nose and face. I was really curious to see if these would be too sickly and have way too much cream in them for my taste.
I was pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite. The Chantilly cream has a subtle sweetness and is therefore not overpowering, together with the savory flavor of the pistachio and the sweetness of the brioche bun makes for a nice dessert.
As you can imagine these are extremely difficult to eat but are a good size for their price. Although not the cheapest sweet, these buns are filling, and I really couldn’t eat more than one. As a treat for yourself, they are a great option to try.
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