Hello friends, today a delicious recipe, perfect St. Joseph’s zeppole! The secret is to create a dough that is neither too soft nor too solid to achieve optimal rise and finally the right cooking so that they do not deflate and have a raw interior. I know that perhaps they won’t come out perfect the first time, but don’t give up and try again; my first zeppole were as flat as pancakes😂 but by getting familiar with the dough and perfecting it each time they now look like little works of art 😍. Let’s get to work!!!
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Very affordable
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 15 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Father's Day, Carnival
Ingredients
- 1 1/8 cup water
- 1/3 cup sunflower seed oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 medium eggs
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
The mixer you find below is the same model as mine, it’s spectacular!
- 1 Mixer
- 1 Piping bag
Steps
1. In a pot, put: the water, oil, and a pinch of salt.
2. When the water comes to a boil, pour in the flour all at once and mix well. When a white film forms on the bottom of the pot and the dough forms, stir two more times and turn off the heat.
3. Now it is necessary to let it cool completely, mixing from time to time.
4. When the dough has completely cooled, it’s time for the eggs. If you want to work your biceps, use a wooden spoon; otherwise, use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, adding the next when the previous one has been well absorbed into the dough.
6. As I told you at the beginning, the dough should not be too solid or too soft. If you find it too solid, you can safely add another egg.
7. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
8. After the time has passed, fill the piping bag with the star nozzle and shape the St. Joseph’s zeppole, spacing them out because they will increase in volume while cooking. I always do two rounds of dough to form a zeppola.
9. If baking in the oven, preheat to 392°F (200°C) for 20 minutes and of course take them out when you find them nicely golden.
10. If you want to fry them, make squares of parchment paper, placing one zeppola on each and then dipping it in oil once it has reached 338°F (170°C). Dip no more than 2 zeppole at a time to avoid lowering the oil temperature too much. Naturally, the parchment paper will detach on its own as the zeppola starts to cook, allowing you to remove it from the oil.
11. Once our St. Joseph’s zeppole are ready, we can fill them as desired. I filled them with lemon diplomat cream and decorated with a cherry and dusting of powdered sugar.
