Zeppole di San Giuseppe, a pastry prepared for this celebration. Zeppole originate from Campania, but are made throughout Italy. The base is a dough made only with water, butter and flour — the classic choux pastry also used to make cream puffs. To decorate them you’ll need Pastry Cream, amarena cherries and a dusting of powdered sugar. Zeppole can be either fried or baked; I prefer them fried — richer, certainly, but more flavorful. A very simple recipe with few ingredients. Just give it a try!!
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 17
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/4 cups type 0 flour
- 7 tbsp clarified butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 eggs (about 8.5 oz / 240 g total)
- 1 1/4 tsp sugar
- pastry cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- amarena cherries
- powdered sugar
Tools
- Stand mixer
- Piping bag
- Parchment paper
Choux pastry procedure
In a small saucepan put the butter, water, milk, salt and sugar. As soon as it starts to boil, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon fairly quickly. Raise the heat for a few minutes until the dough thickens.
A compact ball will form. When you see a thin white film on the bottom of the pan you can turn off the heat.
Let the dough cool. If you want to speed up this step, put the dough in the bowl of the stand mixer and run it for a few minutes.
In the meantime prepare the eggs; if you prefer you can beat them a little to better gauge how to add them to the dough, otherwise add them one at a time.
When the dough has cooled, add the eggs, allowing the first part to be fully absorbed before adding the next.
You should obtain a soft but not too loose dough. With a spatula lift a little dough and let it fall: if it forms a triangle (as in the photo) it means it’s ready, even if you haven’t added all the eggs yet.
When you have finished adding the eggs, put the dough into a piping bag.
On parchment paper cut squares of about 4 in where you will form the zeppole. Decide the size yourself; mine is about 2 3/8 in in diameter.
In a pan put plenty of oil and bring it to a temperature of 356°F. Insert the zeppole with the parchment paper underneath, a few at a time. Let the zeppola brown on one side for a few minutes; the paper will come off by itself — remove it — then turn to the other side.
Place the zeppole on a plate lined with absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
The Saint Joseph’s zeppole are now ready to be filled.
Fantastic!!
Tip
Zeppole are best eaten immediately, but you can store them for up to 2 days in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.
Zeppole are best eaten immediately, but you can store them for up to 2 days in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.
Zeppole are best eaten immediately, but you can store them for up to 2 days in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.
Zeppole are best eaten immediately, but you can store them for up to 2 days in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.
