Baked Zeppole di San Giuseppe. The traditional Campanian dessert prepared on St. Joseph’s Day, in a lighter baked version that is just as delicious.
Now it’s time to read these tips carefully, because below you’ll find suggestions for achieving perfect choux pastry.
Pay attention to the cooking of the roux, i.e., water, butter, and flour; it needs to cook a few extra minutes because if it doesn’t cook perfectly, it may not turn out well.
Another important tip: pay close attention to oven baking; every oven is different, so first preheat the oven to the described temperature before baking and, if needed, let the zeppole cook a few more minutes without any problem.
Another very important step: when the mixture has become lukewarm, incorporate the eggs in this way. Add one egg at a time, do not add another until the previous one is completely absorbed.
The dough is ready. The consistency should be smooth, firm, like a thick and velvety pastry cream.
The zeppole can be prepared a few days in advance, but make sure to fill them only at the moment, so that the choux pastry does not absorb all the moisture from the cream.
The number of zeppole you get depends on how many loops you make with the choux pastry.
Zeppole, one way or another, bring everyone together, both young and old.
A traditional dessert to conclude today’s lunch. You can’t imagine how delicious it is.
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 5 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10/12
- Cooking methods: Electric Oven, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 226.48 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 26.87 (g) of which sugars 14.58 (g)
- Proteins 6.69 (g)
- Fat 10.90 (g) of which saturated 6.52 (g)of which unsaturated 4.28 (g)
- Fibers 0.42 (g)
- Sodium 103.38 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Baked Zeppole di San Giuseppe
- 1.06 cups water
- 7 tbsps butter
- 4 eggs (medium, if large use 3)
- 1.20 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 2.11 cups milk
- 2 eggs (whole)
- 0.60 cups sugar
- 0.48 cups all-purpose flour (or cornstarch)
- 1 lemon (organic lemon zest)
- as needed syruped sour cherries
- as needed powdered sugar
Tools
- Saucepan
- Pot
- Pastry Bag
- Baking Dish
- Stand Mixer
- Baking Paper
Steps for Baked Zeppole di San Giuseppe
Pour the milk into a saucepan, then bring it to a boil with the whole lemon zest, being careful to only obtain the yellow part.
(I used lemon zest, but a vanilla bean or a tablespoon of vanilla extract works just fine).
In a separate small pot, mix the eggs with the sugar. (Whole eggs, both yolk and white).
Then add the flour, mixing with a whisk to remove any lumps.
(If you want, you can replace the flour with cornstarch).
Thin the mixture with a little milk poured in a thin stream, being careful not to let the lemon peel end up in the cream, using a strainer, after adding all the milk put it back on moderate heat.
Put it back on the heat and, always stirring, you’ll see the pastry cream thicken in a few seconds.
Turn off the heat and cover the quick pastry cream with cling film in contact.
Before using it, let it cool very well.
In a pot, pour the water and butter, add a pinch of salt and bring to the heat. Stir until the butter is completely melted.
As soon as it begins to boil, add all the flour and mix with the spoon for a few minutes until the dough forms a compact ball. (You will see a slight white patina form on the bottom of the pot).
Turn off the heat, transfer it to a work surface and spread it out to cool it down.
Alternatively, spread it in a bowl and let it cool on its own.
I helped myself with the stand mixer, but electric whisks work too, “if you don’t have a bowl and spoon, they work just fine” you will certainly need energy if you decide to do it by hand.
When the mixture is cold, transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer, and by activating the paddle at low speed, add the eggs one at a time.
Add the next egg only when the previous one has been absorbed by the dough.
Pay close attention to this phase as the actual amount of eggs may depend on their size, so check after each addition if the next one is actually necessary.
At the end, you should get a soft but compact dough that does not easily detach from the spatula unless with a flick.
Transfer the dough into a piping bag fitted with a wide star nozzle, preferably a nozzle 1cm wide with 6 points, and form rings on a baking sheet lined with baking paper or greased.
You’ll need a double layer of dough. Bake at 356°F in a fan oven for 30-45 minutes (the time depends on the type of oven).
Anyway, check every now and then without opening the oven.
After the cooking time, turn off the oven and remove the zeppole to let them cool at room temperature.
When the zeppole di San Giuseppe are ready, take them out and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
Then put the cooled cream in a piping bag and fill the zeppole.
Finally, decorate them with a syruped sour cherry (or if you prefer a candied cherry) and sprinkle them as desired with powdered sugar.
Enjoy your meal
Advice
If you have a static oven at 365-374°F (always check the baking anyway) and bake for 35 minutes.
Baked Zeppole di San Giuseppe can be stored in the fridge for 2 days, better in an airtight container. With cream filling, they tend to soften, so I can advise filling them at the last minute.
You can also prepare the baked zeppole and fill them later. In this case, they can be stored in a food-grade plastic bag, at room temperature, for 1 week, like cream puffs.
They can also be frozen.
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