Zeppole di San Giuseppe
Cream filled pastries for Italian Father's Day
Father’s Day in Italy is coming up on March 19, la festa di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph’s Day. This holiday has given rise to any number of special dishes, some of which like the bignè di San Giuseppe and the pasta con la mollica, we’ve already featured on this blog. Today I want to share with you the recipe for what might just be the most famous of all San Giuseppe dishes: zeppole di San Giuseppe.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe are simply doughnut like swirls of choux pastry, dusted with confectioner’s sugar, topped with a swirl of thick pastry cream and crowned with a black cherry.
This pastry looks delightful and it tastes even better than it looks! It’s surprisingly easy to pull off, so long as you arm yourself with a star-tipped pastry bag to give the confection its iconic swirly look. The whole process should take less than an hour.
Like other zeppole, zeppole di San Giuseppe were traditionally fried, but for today’s post I’m proposing a modern baked version, which is not only lighter (if not exactly dietetic) but also less fussy to make.
Even if you’re not celebrating Father’s Day this month, do give it a try!
Happy cooking!
Frank
You might also like…
Bigne di San Giuseppe
These fritters are a homier version of zeppole di San Giuseppe. Fried rather than baked, and no pastry bag required!
Chow pastry? You have it correctly as choux on the website in the recipe introduction.