Description
Zeppole di San Giuseppe: sweet, choux pastry doughnuts filled with custard and topped with syrupy sour cherries. A traditional Italian treat to celebrate Father’s Day
Ingredients
Choux pastry:
- 250 grams of white spelt flour
- 250 grams of water
- 50 grams of butter
- 5 medium eggs
- 5 grams of salt
- 1 liter of sunflower oil for frying
Thick custard:
- 460 grams of fresh whole milk
- 6 medium yolks
- 150 grams of sugar
- 30 grams of white spelt flour
- 20 grams of potato starch
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- To decorate:
- powdered sugar
- sour cherries in syrup (1 for each zeppola)
Required:
- Pastry Bag
- large star nozzle of 8/10mm in diameter
Instructions
Make the choux pastry
- Begin by weighing the water in a large saucepan and adding in salt and butter that has been cut into small pieces. Turn the mixture around as you wait for the butter to melt completely. It’s important to note that the water must reach its boiling point of 100°C/212°F and become covered with bubbles before adding the flour, otherwise, you’ll have to start all over again. As soon as the first big bubbles emerge, add the flour all at once and immediately stir to ensure it’s well incorporated.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and continue to stir vigorously for a few seconds so that the flour is well absorbed. The mixture should be dense and gooey, detaching easily from the sides of the pan. Return the saucepan to the heat and stir again until you hear a rubbing sound.
- Pour the hot mixture onto a work surface and cool it down by working it with a spatula. This cooling step is essential to avoid cooking the eggs when added to the mixture. Avoid using a planetary mixer or electric whisk as this could break down the gluten mesh incorrectly. Instead, proceed by hand until the dough cools down enough to be kneaded by hand.
- Once the dough has cooled down, you can pour it into a bowl and prepare the eggs. It’s important to break each egg one at a time and beat them lightly before adding them to the dough. If you’re kneading the dough in a bowl, you can use a fork to help you.
- Add the eggs one by one, making sure that each egg is fully absorbed before adding the next one. When adding the 5th egg, do so slowly and pay attention to how the dough is behaving. If you’re using medium-sized eggs, you’ll need to add it all. The final mixture should be soft and firm, resembling a very compact custard.
Fit a piping bag with a large star-shaped nozzle ranging from 8 to 10mm (Wilton 8B is ideal). Fill the piping bag with the dough and make the zeppole directly in a pan previously lined with baking paper, making two turns, one on top of the other. Note that the base circle usually has a diameter of 6 cm (about 2.5 inches)> be careful that the second layer should be more towards the center of the zeppola to create a small hole in the middle. Space the donuts 4-5 cm apart and form 4-5 for each pan.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 400°F/ gas mark 6. Cook the zeppole for 10 minutes, until they are slightly inflated and have formed a light crust. After the indicated time, the donuts will detach easily.
While the zeppole are in the oven, prepare a small saucepan where you can cook one zeppola at a time. Fill it with plenty of oil, where, however, you can easily turn the donut which will double in size during cooking. Place over moderate heat to warm up, after 3-4 minutes lower the heat a little. The oil must reach a temperature of approximately 165°-170°. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test it with a piece of raw dough. When the oil is ready, it makes the dough slowly rise to the surface very slowly.
Immerse the zeppola and you will see that it will rise to the surface with just a few bubbles, but it will soon take on color and swell up. Turn the donut with the help of a fork and let it cook for about 1 minute on each side. In the meantime, monitor the oil and increase or decrease it accordingly. The zeppola is ready when it has doubled in volume and is well browned and swollen, which usually takes about 2-3 minutes.
Drain with a slotted spoon on absorbent paper and let the excess oil drip from all sides by turning it slightly. After a few minutes, transfer the donut to a new sheet of absorbent paper.
Proceed in this way until the ingredients run out, taking care to change the oil every 5-6 donuts, otherwise, the last donuts will take on a dark color and an unpleasant fried smell.
Leave the Zeppole di San Giuseppe to dry on absorbent paper for 1 hour in a cool, airy place, and fill them only when they have completely cooled down.
Make the thick custard
- To make a delicious custard cream, start by whipping egg yolks with sugar and vanilla for 2 minutes. To obtain a clear, frothy, and swollen mixture, you can help yourself with electric whisks.
- Add sifted flour and starch to the mixture and mix again with electric whisks until you have a smooth and homogeneous product that’s perfectly whipped.
- Next, pour milk into a saucepan and place it on the heat, being careful not to over boil it. As soon as you see the very first bubbles, remove it from the heat, quickly pour the mixture of yolk, sugar, and flour into the milk and put it back on moderate heat.
- Wait a few seconds and you’ll notice that the egg compound floats on the surface of the milk without sinking to the bottom, thanks to the whipped yolk and sugar incorporating enough air to remain on the surface.
- After about a minute, “craters” will appear on the surface, which are bubbles of milk that pierce the surface of the yolk, and the egg will slowly detach from the edges of the pan, giving way to the milk. Quickly stir with a hand whisk and immediately turn off the heat – the cream is ready in just a few seconds.
- You’ll feel the cream immediately thicken upon stirring. Be sure to remove it immediately from the heat to avoid cooking the mixture, which could result in an aftertaste of cooked flour. If the mixture still appears not very structured, remove it from the heat anyway, stir quickly, and place it back over very low heat for a few seconds.
- After stirring the cream for a few seconds, place it immediately in a clean bowl and cover it with cling film. Place the bowl in the fridge for 15 minutes to reduce the temperature completely.
Assemble the zeppole
- To prepare the Zeppole di San Giuseppe, take the custard out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to gently stir it to soften it up and make it more manageable.
- Fill a piping bag with a flower nozzle, preferably the same one you used to form the donuts. Starting from the center of the zeppola, pipe the custard in a circular motion around the starting point, finishing at the top. Be sure to pipe the custard generously, filling the hole in the middle of the zeppola.
- To finish, garnish each zeppola with a sour cherry in syrup in the center. This adds a sweet and tangy flavor to the dessert and makes it look beautiful as well. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
When making Zeppole di San Giuseppe, be careful to use a spout of the indicated dimensions and not one that is too small. This is because the size of the zeppola is established by the size of the spout when you make the first round as a base. The bigger the spout, the bigger the donut will be. If you use small spouts, the donuts will be small or very small, and if you try to widen the size of the base by making more turns, the choux pastry may clump up during cooking and deform the donuts.
It’s important to note that the oil used for frying Zeppole di San Giuseppe must not be as hot as the oil used for normal fried foods, which is usually around 180°C/ 350°F. This is because if the oil is too hot, the donuts will burn immediately without swelling, and therefore not cook them properly.
Once prepared, Zeppole di San Giuseppe should be stored in the fridge and eaten within 2 days. This will ensure that they stay fresh and safe to eat.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: choux pastry, custard cream, St.Joseph's pastries, sour cherries, fried dough