A delectable pastry creation and cherished staple in Utica's bakeries for many generations, and often found on the tables after a wonderful pasta with Sunday Sauce day these were found on most dessert tables with the espresso coffee.
There are several luscious fillings that can be added to the flaky delicious tart dough.
With its origins deeply rooted in fantastic bakeries throughout Utica, the pastry-filled tart is very popular in its culinary heritage.
The filling we have here today is coconut cream, a unique filling however such a creamy gourmet filling for this tart dough.
The most popular and original flavors are chocolate and vanilla pusties, you can find the recipe for both fillings here on my website.
Recreating recipes from my hometown became an obsession when retiring and moving away from this city of fabulous Italian foods, here is our version of Coconut Cream Pustie Pastaciotti.
More Central New York (Utica Bakery Copycat Recipes)
Tomato Pie (not pizza but a homemade dough with sauce and grated cheese)
Utica Greens
Chicken Riggie Recipes from Festivals and Competitions
Italian Lemon Ice
Upside Down Pizza
Copycat N.Y Cheesecake
Chocolate and Vanilla Pusties Recipes
The Best Pastry Shops and Italian Traditional Foods in Utica
If you even have the opportunity to vacation there, the roots of Italian authentic cooking will bring you back to the taste that Grandma and Mom made for Italian cooking back in the early 1940s.
Through the generations, those recipes were passed down, and still have fine establishments throughout the city to partake in and enjoy making in your own kitchens.
The recipe I share is what I was taught growing up in the 1960s by Mom and Grandma and recreated here for an unforgettable taste I grew up on.
Tips for making filled tarts
- do not overwork the dough
- add enough water just until the dough comes together in a ball
- any thick puddings and pie fillings can be used to fill these tarts
- cool before trying to take them out after baking
Alternative Tart Filling Suggestions
- make a vanilla pastry cream and omit the coconut add another extract you prefer IE almond, orange, lemon
- fill the tarts with any canned pie fillings all of them will work just fine
- use canned solo almond filling and top with raspberry pie filling
- pumpkin premade filling for pies is delicious for the Thanksgiving holiday
Pustie Tins and Baking Tools
- these tins can be found online or in local pastry shops we have the affiliate links at the end of this post
- I prefer using the fluted edge silicone however the original tins are metal (these need to be heavy oil sprayed for easy release
- you will need a pastry brush for the egg wash on top
- cutting tools
- rolling pin
- pastry sheet for rolling the dough
- baking sheet to put the tins on for ease of baking
Coconut Cream Pustie Pastaciotti Pin for later
Coconut Cream Pustie Pastaciotti
Yield: 24
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 40 Min
These are small tarts filled with an all-made-from-scratch thick coconut cream pastry cream.
Ingredients
- 4 cups sifted flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 pound of vegetable shortening
- water to form the dough around 2 tablespoons of more if needed
- Coconut Cream or Vanilla Filling:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- 3 egg yolks, beaten well
- 2 teaspoons coconut flavoring, or vanilla or rum extract
- 1 cup or more of shredded coconut
- Optional: coconut for the top before baking and 1 beaten egg yolk to glisten the tops
Instructions
- Pastry Coconut Cream (make this cool and set aside):
- Place sugar and flour in a saucepan.
- Slowly whisk in milk and egg yolks to incorporate and make it smooth.
- Cook until thick, stirring frequently.
- Cool, then add flavoring.
- Stir in coconut.
- Fill the pustie with the cream filling, sprinkle a little shredded coconut on top of the pudding then top with a small piece of more tart dough, and brush with beaten egg yolk.
- Squeeze the edges together then brush with egg wash.
- Bake and garnish with toasted coconut.
- Pustie Dough:
- Preheat the oven to 350degrees
- Spray each tin with cooking oil spray for easier release.
- Mix crust ingredients in a large bowl, careful not to work the dough too long.
- Roll dough 1/4 inch thick (not too thin) I break 24 pieces of dough evenly up so I have enough tops and bottoms.
- Roll out to fit each tin, and pat down along the sides to fit evenly at the top/
- Fill with pastry cream, and shredded coconut and squeeze the edges together around the rim.
- Roll out the remaining dough and cut into rounds to fit the tops of each tin.
- Brush the pusties with beaten egg yolk ( this helps seal the edges also and glistens the top while baking to be shiny.
- Place them on a large baking sheet for the ease of baking all on one sheet pan.
- Sprinkle them with shredded coconut if desired.
- Bake in preheated oven and cook at 350 degrees for around 25 minutes or until they are golden brown on top and the edges are cooked..
- Cool for a few minutes, if they look stuck around the edges, take a knife to loosen them, pop them out of the tins onto wax paper, and cool entirely right side up.
Notes
Tips for making filled tarts
- do not overwork the dough
- add enough water just until the dough comes together in a ball
- any thick puddings and pie fillings can be used to fill these tarts
- cool before trying to take them out after baking
Alternative Tart Filling Suggestions
- make a vanilla pastry cream and omit the coconut add another extract you prefer IE almond, orange, lemon
- fill the tarts with any canned pie fillings all of them will work just fine
- use canned solo almond filling and top with raspberry pie filling
- pumpkin premade filling for pies is delicious for the Thanksgiving holiday
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Coconut Cream Pustie Pastaciotti Pin for later
