Neapolitan Zeppolone with whipped cream and strawberries. Step-by-step recipe.
The San Giuseppe zeppolone is a typical Neapolitan baked pastry, not fried, prepared for Father’s Day as an alternative to the classic single-portion fried San Giuseppe zeppole.
A real delight for the palate, this Neapolitan zeppolone (similar to the French Paris-Brest) with strawberries and whipped cream is exquisite.
In Naples, this large ring-shaped choux pastry is usually filled with a luscious pastry cream enriched with whipped cream and wild strawberries.
The Neapolitan Zeppolone with whipped cream is ideal for important occasions and celebrations, especially Easter and March 19th (Saint Joseph’s Day), for Father’s Day.
A sumptuous dessert, yet easy to prepare, perfect for parties and celebrations in any season.
This zeppolone recipe is well-tested and, with my step-by-step guide, you can’t go wrong. It’s so good it ranks among my signature dishes in my Top recipes.
If you’re looking for fantastic, well-tested, fail-proof recipes (even for less experienced cooks), take a look at the Blog section: “My TOP Recipes“.
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- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 50 Minutes
- Cooking time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Region: Campania
- Seasonality: All seasons, Saint Joseph's Day
Ingredients for the Neapolitan Zeppolone with Whipped Cream:
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp Water
- 7 oz Butter (at room temperature)
- 6 Eggs (at room temperature, about 350-400 g)
- pinch Salt
- 2 cups Strawberries (or large strawberries, for garnish)
- to taste Vanilla powdered sugar (for dusting)
- 2 1/4 cups Whole milk
- 1 2/3 cups Heavy cream (liquid, not Oplà)
- 4 Eggs (whole, about 230 g)
- 2/3 cup Cornstarch (Maizena)
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 1/4 cup Marsala (dry)
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- pinch Salt
Tools for the Neapolitan Zeppolone with Whipped Cream:
- Kitchen scale
- Bowls various sizes
- Pots
- Stand mixer Kenwood 1200 W power with double bowl
- Parchment paper
- Piping bags with tips included
- Spatulas set of 3 pastry spatulas
- Baking sheet
Preparation of the Neapolitan Zeppolone with Whipped Cream:
Place the milk, the cream and the split vanilla bean (or liquid vanilla extract) in a small saucepan and bring almost to a boil (below 214°F).
In another heavy-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 (pour it through a fine-mesh sieve if you used a vanilla bean).
Place over very low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk.
Cover immediately with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface and refrigerate.
Turn off the heat when the cream has thickened (about 180°F) and leaves a film on the spoon (about 5–10 min.). When it cools slightly, add the liqueur (not before, otherwise it evaporates).
When ready to use the cream, revive it with the beaters to make it smooth and velvety (or pass it through a sieve).
If you don’t use the liqueur, add the same amount of milk (60 ml).
Bring to a boil (preferably in a copper saucepan) the water, the butter and the salt and, as soon as it boils (otherwise water evaporates and the recipe changes), remove from the heat and add the flour all at once, stirring quickly with a wooden spoon to avoid lumps, then return to the heat for a maximum of 3 minutes. As soon as the dough sizzles and pulls away from the sides in a single mass, remove from the heat and let it cool (flatten the dough to cool it faster).
To the warm dough, add one egg at a time (I used the stand mixer with the paddle) and don’t add the next one until the previous is absorbed. Beat the dough for about 4 minutes; it should have the consistency of a thick pastry cream and be semi-glossy.
Draw a circle about 7 1/8 inches (18 cm) in diameter on parchment paper and fill with the dough using a piping bag fitted with a large star tip (about 1 inch / 2.5 cm). With the tip tilted, follow the drawn circle, then make a second circle outside the first, and finally make a third circle on top of the first two to join them (the finished zeppolone should measure about 8 2/3 inches / 22 cm in diameter).
Let the zeppolone rest uncovered in the air for about 30 minutes (this step is ESSENTIAL for good baking).
Then bake the pastry in a preheated static oven at 410°F (210°C) for about 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 347°F (175°C), turn off the oven and let everything settle for another 5–6 minutes with the door slightly ajar.
Assembling the Neapolitan Zeppolone with Whipped Cream:
Remove the zeppolone from the oven, let it cool on a rack and then cut it in half with a long serrated knife.
Fill with the cream and the chosen fresh fruit, or with cream and chocolate chips, or only with whipped cream.
Garnish with chopped hazelnuts, pistachios, sliced almonds, fresh fruit or simply dust with vanilla powdered sugar.
Notes and Tips
The Neapolitan zeppolone (or Paris-Brest) can be filled with various creams. For this recipe I used a whipped-cream-enriched pastry cream: to make it even creamier you can add 35 g (about 1 1/4 oz) of butter and whip it in once cooled.
My diplomatic cream is also perfect for this dessert.
Alternatively, you can use the recipe for my very indulgent, well-tested pastry cream — either double chocolate or white (click HERE for the recipe) — and, if desired, fold whipped cream into the cooked cream (estimate about 150 g of whipped cream per 500 g of pastry cream).
Shopping Tips!!!
To prepare this pastry and get a perfect dough I use my Kenwood stand mixer with illuminated bowl, 7L, integrated scale and 1400W power, a faithful ally in the kitchen for mixing, weighing, whisking, blending and pasteurizing eggs.
If, instead, you are looking for a more economical and smaller stand mixer, you can safely choose the excellent Kenwood, 1200W, with dual 5L and 3.5L bowls and integrated scale.
You can purchase all the items I recommend above on Amazon at a great price by clicking directly on the respective links.
History and origins of Neapolitan zeppole?
As with many desserts, the origin of the zeppole is shrouded in legend and tied to ancient and varied traditions, which may even date back to the 1500s. The official history of the San Giuseppe zeppola begins in 1837, when the Neapolitan gastronome Ippolito Cavalcanti, Duke of Buonvicino, included the first official recipe in a Neapolitan-language cookbook, although some claim that zeppole – like many Neapolitan pastries – may have originated in the Convent of San Gregorio Armeno.
Origins and history of the Paris-Brest (called “zeppolone” in Naples)
In fact, this “zeppolone” (as it is called in Naples) is nothing more than the famous Paris-Brest, a dessert of French origin said to be named after the 1891 cycling race Paris–Brest–Paris. The race inspired pastry chef Louis Durand to create a choux pastry shaped like a bicycle wheel, filled with whipped cream or various creams and seasonal fresh fruit.
Origin and meaning of the term “zeppola”?
Opinions differ about the origin of the word “zeppola”: some believe it derives from the Latin serpula(m), meaning serpent, which would justify the coiled snake-like shape. Others maintain it comes from “zeppa”, from the Latin cippus, referring in Naples to a wooden wedge used to correct measurement defects in furniture. Finally, some link zeppole to cymbala(m), a flat-bottomed riverboat with rounded ends, similar in shape to a ring.
