Fried St. Joseph’s Zeppole! A dessert that knows no boundaries! What delight and presence these richly filled pastries have, a treat that has surpassed the regional boundaries of Campania and has long graced the tables of Italians!
I remember in my city, La Spezia, it is very much celebrated as it is our patron St. Joseph.
It is celebrated for three days with a fair and many stalls from all over Italy.
Where kilos and kilos of fried zeppole are sold.
For my husband’s joy, I made a small variation since he doesn’t like black cherry, so I decided to finish them with a fresh and fragrant strawberry.
Pay close attention to the cooking of the roux, that is, water, butter, and flour, it must cook a few minutes longer because if it doesn’t cook perfectly, it could result in failure.
Tradition dictates that they should be puffed, tall, and soft but above all fried, but for those who wish, they can also be baked.
These are fried choux pastry rings, filled with custard or diplomatic cream.
The number of zeppole obtained depends on how many rounds you make with the choux pastry.
Zeppole, in one way or another, bring everyone to agreement, both young and old.
A traditional dessert with which to conclude today’s meal. You can’t understand how delightful they are.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 10/12 depending on size
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for Fried St. Joseph’s Zeppole
Ingredients for the zeppole
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 quart peanut oil
- 3 eggs (whole)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (Or 1/3 cup cornstarch)
- 1 lemon (the peel of one lemon)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (to make a bit of chantilly cream)
- 7 oz strawberries
- to taste powdered sugar
Tools
- Kitchen scale
- Frying pan
- Parchment paper
- 3 Saucepans
- Bowl
- Spatula
- Pastry bag
- Electric whisk
- Stand mixer
Preparation of Fried St. Joseph’s Zeppole
Pour the milk into a saucepan, then bring it to a boil with the whole lemon peel, being careful to extract only the yellow part.
(I used lemon peel, but a vanilla bean or a tablespoon of vanilla extract works just as well).
In a separate pot, beat 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 wish, you can replace the flour with cornstarch).
Temper the mixture with a little milk poured in a thin stream, being careful to avoid the lemon peel ending up in the cream by using a sieve, after adding all the milk, return it to moderate heat.
Put it back on the heat, and keep stirring; you’ll see the custard thicken in a few seconds.
Turn off the heat and cover the quick custard with plastic wrap placed in contact.
Before using it, let it cool very well.
Whip the fresh cream.
When the cream is completely cold, combine it with the cream and mix gently.
Your chantilly cream is now ready.
In a pot, pour the water and butter, add a pinch of salt, and bring to the heat. Stir until the butter is completely dissolved.
When the butter is completely dissolved, add the flour.
Continue to stir until the mixture thickens and detaches from the sides of the pan.
As soon as it starts to boil, add all the flour and stir with the spoon for a few minutes until the dough forms a compact ball. (You will see a thin whitish layer form on the base of the pot).
Turn off the heat, transfer it to a work surface, and spread it out to cool.
Alternatively, spread it out in a bowl and let it cool on its own.
I used a stand mixer, but electric whisks work fine too, “if you don’t have them, a bowl and spoon will do just fine,” though you will 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 starting the paddle at low speed, add the eggs one at a time.
Pay close attention to this phase, as the actual quantity of eggs may depend on their size, so check after each addition if the next is actually necessary.
In the end, you should get a soft but compact mixture that does not detach easily from the spatula, except with a quick flick.
Cut the parchment paper into squares about 10 x 10 cm.
After placing the star tip into the pastry bag, fill it with the St. Joseph’s zeppole dough.
Form the zeppole on the parchment paper this way.
Continue until they are all prepared.
Heat the oil and immerse the St. Joseph’s zeppole with all the parchment paper (it will detach after a few seconds, and you can remove it with tongs).
Cook them until they are puffed and golden. The flame should not be too strong.
Once golden on one side, flip them to cook on the other, all at a medium and constant temperature.
Drain them and place them on absorbent paper.
When cold, dust with powdered sugar.
Fill the zeppole with diplomatic cream.
Finally, decorate as desired.
With black cherries or strawberries as you like.
Enjoy your meal.
Tips
Baked St. Joseph’s Zeppole can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 days, preferably in an airtight container. With the cream filling, they tend to soften, so I recommend 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 plastic food bag, at room temperature, for 1 week, like cream puffs.
They can also be frozen.
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