The best pasticciotti in Salento: where to eat them, from Brindisi to Lecce and Galatina

What is a pasticciotto?

Ask anyone from Salento what they miss most when they live away, and many will say the same thing: a warm pasticciotto at the bar on a Sunday morning. It is a small oval pastry, golden and slightly cracked on top, made of crumbly shortcrust (pasta frolla) and filled with thick custard cream. When it is fresh from the oven the cream is still warm and the pastry breaks like a biscuit.

The traditional shortcrust is made with lard (strutto) rather than butter, which gives it a crisp, sandy texture. Many bakeries now use butter or a mix, and you will find dozens of variants, but the classic is still custard and nothing else.

Brindisi sits at the northern edge of Salento, so the pasticciotto is a local breakfast here too, sold in almost every bar from the first coffee of the morning.

Where does the pasticciotto come from?

The story told in Galatina, a town south of Lecce, dates the first pasticciotto to the 18th century, in the bakery of the Ascalone family. A pastry cook had leftover shortcrust and custard, baked them together in a small oval mould and sold the result in his shop. The new cake was such a success that it spread across the whole peninsula.

Historians debate the details, including the exact date and the name of the inventor, so take the legend as a legend. What is certain is that Pasticceria Ascalone still bakes pasticciotti in Galatina today and that the town proudly calls itself the home of the pasticciotto.

How to eat a pasticciotto like a local

The pasticciotto is a breakfast pastry. Order it at the counter between seven and eleven, ask for it "caldo" (warm), and eat it with a coffee. In summer the perfect pairing is a caffè leccese, espresso poured over ice with almond syrup; in winter, a cappuccino.

It costs about 1.20 to 2 euro at the bar, a little more for special versions. It is best on the day it is baked, ideally within an hour or two. If you want to take some home, buy them on your last morning and keep them cool: the custard does not like long journeys.

The variants you will see

The classic is custard only, but the glass case of a Salento bar often holds a small family of pasticciotti. These are the ones worth knowing.

• Classico: custard cream only. Start here.
• Con amarena: custard with a sour black cherry inside. Very common and very good.
• Cioccolato, pistacchio, Nutella: modern fillings, popular with children.
• Fruttone: same shape, but filled with almond paste and cherry jam and covered in dark chocolate. A cousin rather than a variant, and the other speciality of Galatina and Lecce.
• Torta pasticciotto: a whole cake made like a giant pasticciotto, for Sunday lunch.

Where to eat the best pasticciotti in Brindisi

You do not need to drive to Lecce for a very good pasticciotto. These are the places in Brindisi city where locals go; walking times are from BDS House in Vico D'Orimini.

• Caffè Ausonia 1963. Corso Garibaldi 91, about 4 minutes on foot. The classic breakfast address of the centre, open from 5:30, where reviewers mention "excellent pasticciotti and a perfectly frothed cappuccino". Sit outside on the Corso and watch the town wake up.
• Peddy Bar. Via Appia 105, about 20 minutes on foot or 5 by car. A pastry shop open 24 hours that makes pasticciotti in many versions, including amarena, chocolate and pistachio. Useful before an early flight or after a late night.
• Divine Tentazioni. Via Consolazione 4, about 20 minutes on foot. An artisan pastry shop and lounge bar with a good choice of pasticciotti, and gluten-free options, which is rare.
• La Belle Epoque Café. Via Galileo Galilei 5C, in the Casale area across the harbour, 10 minutes by car. A bright café praised for its cornetti and pasticciotti, handy on the way to the airport or the northern beaches.

Where to eat the best pasticciotti in Lecce

Lecce is about 35 to 40 minutes from Brindisi by car or train, and a pasticciotto is the best way to start a day there. These addresses come up in every food guide.

• Caffè Alvino. Piazza Sant'Oronzo 30. The most famous café in Lecce, on the main square in front of the Roman amphitheatre. Generous classic pasticciotti and an excellent fruttone. Busy, but worth it.
• Pasticceria Natale. Via Trinchese 7, a few steps from the square. Known for its traditional pasticciotto, fruit versions with home-made jams and even a gelato version in summer.
• Aldemorisco. Via Foscarini 16. A pastry shop famous for its pasticciotto cake with sour cherries.
• Bar L'Incontro. Viale della Libertà 51, just outside the old town. A locals' favourite, where the pasticciotto comes out so hot that the cream is almost liquid. Order an iced coffee with almond milk next to it.

Galatina, the home of the pasticciotto

Galatina is a handsome baroque town about an hour south of Brindisi by car, 20 minutes beyond Lecce. Coming here for a pasticciotto is a small pilgrimage, and the town deserves a walk anyway, with the frescoed church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria.

• Pasticceria Ascalone. Via Vittorio Emanuele II 17. The bakery of the legend, run by the same family for generations. Order a classic pasticciotto and a fruttone and eat them at the counter. It is usually closed on Monday and in the early afternoon; check the hours before you drive.
• Cristalli di Zucchero. Corso Porta Luce 85. A modern pastry shop open from early morning, where reviewers say the pasticciotto "melts in your mouth" and is always served warm.
• Eros Bar Pasticceria. Piazza San Pietro 9. Known for the "Tipicciotto", a version made with an old local variety of soft wheat. Interesting if you want to compare.

Pasticciotti elsewhere in Salento

Every town in Salento has its own favourite bakery, and arguing about the best pasticciotto is a local sport. If your day trips take you further south, these are good stops.

• Martinucci, Otranto and Gallipoli. A Salento pastry chain with shops in Otranto, on the seafront, in Gallipoli and in Lecce. Reliable pasticciotti and gelato after a day at the beach.
• Murrieri, Racale. Via Mazzini 26, near the beaches of the Ionian coast. Praised by Gambero Rosso for a classic, simple pasticciotto.
• Bar Pasticceria da Pasquale, Ostuni. Not in Salento but only 30 minutes from Brindisi, in the White City. Hugely popular, with generous pasticciotti full of cream: an easy stop on a day in the Valle d'Itria.

For the geography, our guide to day trips from Brindisi has times and routes to Lecce, Otranto, Gallipoli and Ostuni.

A pasticciotto day from BDS House

Start with a pasticciotto at Caffè Ausonia, four minutes from the house. Take the train or drive to Lecce (35 to 40 minutes), walk the baroque old town and have a second one at Caffè Alvino in Piazza Sant'Oronzo. If you have a car, continue to Galatina for the original at Ascalone, then drive back to Brindisi for dinner by the harbour. Three pasticciotti in one day is a perfectly normal Salento itinerary.

Prefer savoury? Our guide to the best rustici in Brindisi covers the other half of the bar counter, and our taralli guide tells you what to take home.