Neapolitan Zeppolone with cream and strawberries
The San Giuseppe zeppolone is a typical Neapolitan baked dessert prepared for Father’s Day, as an alternative to the classic single-serving fried zeppole.
A real treat for the palate, this Neapolitan zeppolone (or Paris Brest) with strawberries and cream. In Naples, this choux pastry dessert shaped like a large donut is usually garnished with a delicious custard, enriched with cream and wild strawberries.
Perfect to prepare for important occasions and celebrations, but especially for Easter and San Giuseppe for Father’s Day, as a valid alternative to the classic fried zeppole.
A sumptuous dessert, but easy to prepare, ideal for parties and celebrations in any season of the year. The recipe for this zeppolone is highly tested and with my step-by-step guide you can’t go wrong, it’s so good that it features among my top recipes.
If you’re looking for scrumptious, highly tested, and foolproof recipes (even for the less experienced in the kitchen), check out the Blog Section: “My TOP Recipes“.
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- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, San Giuseppe
Ingredients for the choux pastry
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 cup Water
- 14 tbsps Butter (at room temperature)
- 6 Eggs (at room temperature, about 350-400 g)
- 1 pinch Salt
- 10.5 oz Strawberries (or large strawberries, for garnish)
- as needed Vanilla powdered sugar (for garnish)
- 2 cups Whole milk
- 1.7 cups Fresh liquid cream (no Oplà)
- 4 Eggs (whole, about 230 g)
- 2/3 cup Cornstarch
- 1.5 cups Sugar
- 1/4 cup Marsala (dry)
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 1 pinch Salt
Tools
- Pots
- Hand whisk
- Stand mixer Kenwood with 1400W power, illuminated bowl
- Parchment paper
- Pastry bag
- Baking sheet
Preparation of the Neapolitan Zeppolone (or Paris Brest)
In a saucepan, put the milk, cream, and the opened vanilla pod (or liquid vanilla extract) and bring almost to a boil (below 215°F).
In another thick-bottomed saucepan, beat the WHOLE eggs well with the sugar and a pinch of salt. Add the sifted flour and mix well, then add the milk and cream mixture all at once (pouring it through a fine mesh sieve, if using the vanilla pod). Set on very low heat, stirring constantly with a hand whisk.
Cover immediately with cling film in contact and store in the fridge.
Turn off the heat when the cream thickens (about 180°F) and coats the spoon (about 5/10 min.) When it cools slightly, add the liqueur (not before, otherwise it evaporates).
When ready to use, revive the cream with whisks, to make it smooth and velvety (or strain it). If not using the liqueur, add the same amount of milk (60 ml).
Bring to a boil (preferably in a copper saucepan) the water, butter, and salt, and as soon as it boils (otherwise the water evaporates and alters the recipe) remove from heat and pour in the flour all at once, stir quickly with the spoon to avoid lumps and return to heat for max 3 minutes, as soon as the dough sizzles and detaches from the sides in one piece, remove from heat and let cool (flattening the dough to cool it faster).
To the warm dough, add one egg at a time (I used the stand mixer with paddle) and do not add the second if the previous one is not absorbed and so on, beat the dough for about 4 minutes, it should have the consistency of thick custard and be semi-glossy.
Draw 1 circle about 7 inches in diameter on parchment paper and fill with the dough, use a pastry bag with a large star tip (about 1 inch) and, with the tip tilted, first follow the drawn circle, then form a second circle outside the first and finally form a third circle of dough that tops the first two and connects them (the finished zeppolone should measure about 9 inches in diameter).
Let the zeppolone rest, uncovered, for about 30 minutes in the air (this step is CRUCIAL for a good bake) and then bake in a preheated static oven at 410°F for about 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F, turn off the oven and let it settle for another 5-6 minutes with the door ajar.
Remove the zeppolone from the oven, let it cool on a wire rack and then cut it in two with a long serrated knife, very sharp. Fill with the cream and chosen fresh fruit, or also with cream and chocolate chips or just whipped cream.
Garnish with hazelnut or pistachio crumbs or almond slivers or fresh fruit or just vanilla sugar.
Notes and Tips
This Neapolitan zeppolone (or Paris Brest) can be filled with various types of creams, for this recipe I used a cream: to make it even creamier, you can add 35 g of butter and whip when it has cooled.
Also, my diplomatic cream is perfect for this dessert.
Alternatively, you can use the recipe for my super delicious and well-tested pastry cream, even double chocolate or white (click HERE for the recipe) and if you wish, you can add whipped cream to the cooked cream (calculate about 150 g on 500 g of cream).
Shopping Tips !
To prepare this dessert and knead perfectly, myKenwood stand mixer with illuminated bowl, 7L, integrated scale, and blender, with 1400W of power, faithful ally in the kitchen for: kneading, weighing, whipping, cooking, chopping, pasteurizing eggs.
If you’re looking for a more economical and smaller stand mixer, you can safely choose to purchase the excellent Kenwood, 1200W power, double bowls of 5L and 3.5L and integrated scale.
History of zeppole and origin of the term “zeppola” ?
As with many desserts, the birth of zeppole is shrouded in legend and is linked to ancient traditions different from each other, dating back to as early as the 1500s.
However, the history of the San Giuseppe zeppola officially begins in 1837, when the Neapolitan gastronome Ippolito Cavalcanti, Duke of Buonvicino, included in his cookbook the first official recipe in Neapolitan language, although some claim that even zeppole – like most Neapolitan desserts – are said to have originated perhaps in the Convent of San Gregorio Armeno.Opinions are divided on the origin of the word “zeppola”. Some believe it derives from the Latin serpula(m), meaning snake, which would justify its coiled snake-like shape. Others, instead, argue that the name derives from zeppa, from the Latin cippus, used in Naples to refer to the wooden wedge used to correct measurement defects in furniture. And still, others connect zeppole to the cymbala(m), a flat-bottomed riverboat with rounded ends similar to the shape of a donut.
Origins and history of Paris Brest (in Naples “zeppolone”)
In reality, this “zeppolone” (as it is called in Naples) is none other than the famous Paris Brest, a dessert of French origin, which is said to take its name from the first edition of the Paris-Brest-Paris cycling race in 1891, which inspired the pastry chef Louis Durand to create a choux pastry cake in the shape of a bicycle wheel, filled with cream or various types of creams and seasonal fresh fruit.
