Growing up, Krystle Bezzina would wake up to the delicious smells of her great-aunt’s baking every day during the sunny summer holidays.

Memories of her home in Naxxar full of fresh ftajjar, piping hot timpana and large pies all made by her great-aunt, who lived to the age of 100, left a lasting impression on young Krystle.

In adulthood, she has learnt all those recipes as well as the tricks of the trade for making one of the country’s most beloved snacks – pastizzi.

But it wasn’t until last February that Krystle, now 38, finally fulfilled her dream – alongside her husband Jeff Reese – and began baking and selling pastizzi in their home town in that other sunshine state, Florida.

“It’s all quite exciting, we never expected the business to grow so fast, but so many Maltese communities have reached out to us to make their order. Sometimes we have orders for over 50 pastizzi,” Krystle told Times of Malta.

The baker-teacher from Tal-Grazzja

Back in 2011, Krystle moved to Michigan for work but shortly after her arrival she was diagnosed with cancer. She was just 27. She moved to Florida for her treatment.

It was there, during her cancer treatment, that she met her husband Jeff Reese, who was suffering from the same kind of cancer.

With a new outlook on life, Krystle sought a Maltese community.

“In Michigan there is a huge Maltese community and a club, so I never missed the culture or food,” she said.

But there were none in Florida, and Krystle did not know any Maltese expats there. Until one day when the couple met Grazio Darmanin, who goes by the nickname Gus.

Gus came from a family of bakers from Żabbar who owned the Tal-Grazzja bakery on Sanctuary Street. In the 1960s his family moved to New York and later opened two other bakeries there.

As she recovered, Krystle wanted to learn how to make proper pastizzi and Gus was the right teacher.

“By the time we became friends, Gus was retired but most of our time together was spent in the kitchen, where he would teach us how to improve on my great aunt’s pastizzi recipe and how to work with the dough,” she recalled.

The couple would then take their Maltese treats to parties or work, and word got around of the delicious delicacies.

Grazio Darmanin (left) originally from a family of bakers in Żabbar, taught Krystle and Jeff (right) how to make pastizzi.

Chocolate and marshmallow pastizzi?

“People started to ask us to prepare orders for them, so we decided to set up our own online shop, where people can order our products frozen. They can then simply pop them in the oven when they need their pastizzi fix,” Krystle said.

The couple set up their online shop ‘TasteMalta Bakery’ back in February, and prepared orders on their days off.

She said some customers weren’t big fans of the classic irkotta or piżelli.

“People would ask us to make pastizzi with venison, seafood, rice. Children would ask us to fill the pastry with marshmallows and chocolate.”

But their Maltese customers wanted the real deal.

“Those born and raised in Malta and who live in Florida and other states would reach out to us and ask us to make pastizzi, and also make them rabbit stew, honey rings and ricotta pie with ful – it’s very exciting.”

They were swamped with orders in May when many Maltese-American families hosted ‘Pastizzi night’ to watch the Eurovision.

“We had families ordering over 80 pastizzi. It may sound like a lot, but don’t forget, in Malta you turn any corner and buy these treats, but here we don’t have that option,” Jeff said.

The couple ship a minimum of 36 frozen pastizzi at the price of $99 (€92). Those who live in Florida can buy 12 pastizzi for $33 (€31).

While the price may seem high here, orders keep flooding in for the couple, from right across the states.

One night they spent till 2am making over 100 pastizzi, ready to be frozen and shipped out.

Jeff and Krystle will continue to work on their online business but plan to open their own Maltese bakery in Florida in the near future.

Jeff believes they could be the next bar food in Florida.

“People here love to drink in outdoor bars, and we believe crunchy pastizzi would be a great snack to go with a cold beer.”

People just keep coming back for more. Krystle’s own father paid a visit in December and made sure he had some hot pastizzi prepared for him.

“My dad came to Florida from Malta to eat pastizzi! He thinks they’re delicious,” Krystle said.