Fake puff pastry zeppole with ricotta, an easy and quick dessert to prepare in a few minutes even at the last moment. Preparing desserts with ready-made puff pastry is very simple: with a round cutter you cut disks, bake them for 20 minutes in the oven and then open and fill them with an uncooked ricotta cream prepared quickly while the pastry disks are in the oven. Once baked, divide the disks in half to obtain 2 layers, then fill them with plenty of ricotta cream enriched with chocolate chips and made more indulgent with a little natural vanilla extract. They are perfect to prepare for any occasion, and today, since it is Father’s Day, zeppole cannot be missing — this quick idea will allow everyone to prepare them at home quickly with few ingredients and no effort. As an alternative to ricotta you can use a classic pastry cream or a mascarpone cream. A good alternative to the classic St. Joseph’s zeppole, very similar to the Apulian “sporcamuss” cookies.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 5 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, St. Joseph's Day
Ingredients Puff Pastry Zeppole with Ricotta
- 1 sheet rectangular puff pastry sheet
- 1 egg for glazing
- to taste brown sugar
- 1 1/4 cups sheep's milk ricotta (well drained) — about 10.6 oz
- 6 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp chocolate chips
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (about 6 drops)
- to taste powdered sugar
- to taste chocolate chips (for decoration)
Tools To prepare the puff pastry zeppole with ricotta
- 1 Round cutter
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Fork
- 1 Piping bag
- 1 Knife
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Pastry brush
Preparation Steps for Puff Pastry Zeppole with Ricotta
Take the puff pastry out of the fridge at least a couple of minutes before starting to work. Meanwhile, preheat a conventional oven to 356°F.
Unroll the puff pastry and fold it in half along the long side. Using a round cutter of 3.15 in to cut 6 double discs. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with a little brown sugar. Prick the disks with the tines of a fork. Work the scraps the same way and bake them too — they’ll be delicious on their own.
Bake in the preheated oven at 356°F for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool; meanwhile prepare the ricotta cream.
For the ricotta cream, place the well-drained ricotta in a bowl and work it well with a fork until creamy. Add the sugar, the vanilla and finally the chocolate chips.
When the disks have cooled, cut them in half and fill with the ricotta cream using a piping bag, then close them. Decorate with a dollop of cream and chocolate chips, dust with powdered sugar. Our puff pastry ricotta zeppole are ready to be enjoyed immediately so the pastry stays crisp. If you prefer them softer, you can fill them in advance.
Keep them refrigerated because of the ricotta. If you prefer, you can store the puff pastry disks in a closed container and keep only the cream in the fridge until the moment you fill the zeppole and serve them.
