The St. Joseph’s cocoa zeppole are a delicious variation of the classic zeppole di San Giuseppe. Cocoa choux pastry filled with glossy pastry cream for zeppole and chocolate chips. Incredible: very soft with an intense dark-chocolate flavor.
You can choose to bake them or fry them.
You will definitely like these recipes:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Cooking time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 15 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Father's Day
INGREDIENTS FOR COCOA ZEPPOLE
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (220 g)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (30 g)
- 3 1/2 tbsp lard (50 g)
- 6 eggs (medium)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 L sunflower oil (for frying if you choose to fry instead of baking (about 4 1/4 cups / 34 fl oz))
- pastry cream (double batch)
Tools
- 1 Piping bag
PREPARATION OF ST. JOSEPH’S COCOA ZEPPOLE
In a large saucepan, pour the water and add the salt and lard. Heat until melted.
When the lard has melted, wait until the mixture comes to a boil. Then add the flour mixed with the cocoa all at once and stir immediately. Remove from the heat and continue stirring so the mixture absorbs all the flour. Return to the heat and stir for a few more seconds.
Remove the dough from the pan and put it into a bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon and continue until it has almost completely cooled. When the dough has cooled, transfer it to a stand mixer and add the eggs, slightly beaten, one at a time—add the next only when the previous one is completely absorbed. Mix with the paddle at medium speed until you obtain a soft but firm dough.
Take a piping bag fitted with a star tip with a hole of about 5/16–3/8 in (8–10 mm), fill it with the dough and pipe the zeppole onto parchment paper, making two concentric rings, one on top of the other, with the base ring about 2 3/8–2 3/4 in in diameter. You can make smaller zeppole if you prefer.
Preheat the oven to 392°F and bake the zeppole for 25 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 356°F and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour before filling.
Fill with the glossy pastry cream for zeppole and decorate with chocolate chips!
Adriana’s Tip
They keep in the refrigerator for 2 days once filled. The zeppole bases (unfilled) can be stored for 1 week wrapped in plastic wrap.
