Steps to prepare St. Joseph’s Day zeppole cooked in the air fryer

• First of all, I recommend a few tips to obtain perfect choux pastry. It is essential to cook the roux (that is, water, butter and flour) well; it should be cooked a few extra minutes because if it is not cooked perfectly the recipe can fail and you may have problems with it “deflating.” Another tip: the dough is perfect when, inserting the spatula or wooden spoon into the dough, it stands up forming a sort of triangle or ribbon. For the method without a food processor, simply cook the roux in a stainless-steel saucepan on the stove and the eggs will be incorporated with a wooden spoon. For convenience today I will use a food processor like a Thermomix. Now let’s start the recipe. In the bowl pour the water, the butter, the pinch of salt and run the machine at 212°F, speed 2, for 10 minutes. Then add the flour to the bowl and run the machine at speed 4 for 40 seconds. Now, for a total of 5 times, run the machine at speed 4 trying to wait 15 minutes of rest each time so that the mixture cools. So to recap: now you should wait 15 minutes, then run the machine again at speed 4 for 40 seconds, then rest another 15 minutes and so on for 5 times. Once the mixture has cooled, add the eggs one at a time through the hole in the bowl always at speed 4 until completely absorbed. The dough is ready when it becomes nice and frothy and creamy. Below I also leave the procedure with a stand mixer. In a saucepan pour the water, the butter and the salt and leave to simmer. As soon as it boils add the flour in one go and stir quickly forming a ball. Cook until a white film begins to form on the bottom of the saucepan. It will take 2–3 minutes. Pour the dough into the bowl of the stand mixer, using the paddle (K) and let the dough cool, stirring occasionally at speed 2. When the mixture has become lukewarm, about 122°F, incorporate the eggs as follows. Insert them one at a time; do not add the next if the previous one is not completely absorbed. The dough is ready. The consistency should be smooth, firm and semi-glossy, like a dense, velvety pastry cream. Now let’s move on to making the zeppole. Take the air fryer basket. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the rack. Transfer the choux pastry into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and form the zeppole by making two concentric rings of dough. In my basket I made only 4 zeppole but if you have a larger air fryer you can make up to 6. Then cook at 356°F for 10 minutes and then at 392°F for another 10 minutes. I have an air fryer with double heating element and therefore I didn’t need to turn them to cook them evenly; if you have one with only a single heating element I recommend turning them to cook them better.

  

• When the zeppole have completely cooled, open them in half and fill them with the pastry cream prepared in advance following my recipe linked above. Finally, decorate the surface with powdered sugar, a dollop of cream and an amarena cherry.

  

• And here they are ready to enjoy. I hope you like this latest recipe of mine, see you next time friends.