RECIPE: Zeppole di San Giuseppe, A Sweet Legacy
Ingredients
Scale
For Choux Pastry:
- 250 ml water
- 55 g butter
- 150 g all-purpose flour (00 flour)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
For Pastry Cream:
- 200 ml milk
- 70 g sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 22.5 g cornstarch
- ½ vanilla bean
For Frying and Decoration:
- Peanut oil (enough for frying)
- 6 maraschino cherries
- Powdered sugar (to taste)
Instructions
- Prepare the pastry cream: Heat the milk with the vanilla bean. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with sugar, add the cornstarch, and mix. Temper the mixture with some hot milk before adding it back to the milk in the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Let cool.
- Prepare the choux pastry: In a saucepan, bring water, butter, and salt to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously until you have a smooth dough that comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and incorporate the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Fry the zeppole: Heat the oil to 165°C (330°F). Using a piping bag with a star tip, pipe donut shapes of dough onto parchment paper. Carefully transfer them to the hot oil and fry for a few minutes, flipping them halfway through. Drain on paper towels.
- Assemble and decorate: Fill the zeppole with pastry cream, top each with a maraschino cherry, and dust with powdered sugar.