You can’t let Carnival or Father’s Day pass without making Saint Joseph’s Day Zeppole, the typical pastry of Campanian origin. Many make them fried, but I prefer this much lighter baked version. The filling can be either pastry cream or diplomat cream.
Other recipes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 10 pieces
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Region: Campania
- Seasonality: Saint Joseph's Day, Carnival
- Energy 168.18 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 17.86 (g) of which sugars 9.62 (g)
- Proteins 4.70 (g)
- Fat 9.12 (g) of which saturated 5.31 (g)of which unsaturated 3.76 (g)
- Fibers 0.28 (g)
- Sodium 98.03 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 70 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
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (00)
- 2 eggs (large)
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 1 2/3 cups whole milk
- 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch (maizena)
- 1 tbsp rice flour
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 zest of 1 lemon
- 1 vanilla bean
- as needed powdered sugar
- 30 sour cherries in syrup (amarene sciroppate)
Tools
- Kitchen scale
- Small saucepan
- Hand whisks
- Stand mixer
- Piping bag
Steps
Start by preparing the choux pastry. Pour the water into a small saucepan with the butter cut into pieces and a pinch of salt. As soon as the butter melts and it comes to a boil, add the flour all at once. Stir quickly, return to the heat and continue cooking while stirring until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Transfer the dough to the bowl of the stand mixer and let it cool. Add one egg at a time, making sure the first has been absorbed before adding the next. Preheat the convection (fan) oven to 392°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the choux pastry into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe three spirals or, if you prefer, two, leaving a hole in the center. Bake on the middle rack and cook for 25 minutes; then turn the oven off and leave the door slightly open for another 5 minutes.
Pour the milk into a small saucepan, add the lemon zest, the vanilla pulp and the vanilla bean and bring to a boil. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. Add the dry ingredients while continuing to whisk for a few minutes. Remove the lemon zest and the vanilla bean from the milk, then pour the milk into the egg mixture, mixing quickly with a whisk; turn off the heat and let the cream cool covered with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface.
Put the cold pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and fill the zeppole. Dust the baked Saint Joseph’s Day Zeppole with powdered sugar and place a sour cherry in syrup in the center.
Storage
Zeppole can be stored for up to 7 days unfilled in a closed container. If filled, store in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days.
Can Saint Joseph’s Day zeppole also be fried?
Yes, simply drop them into hot oil leaving the parchment paper under each one; remove the paper immediately after placing them in the oil.
