Saintly Sweets “zeppole di San Giuseppe”

Zeppole photo: Scott Goodwin

Always second to St Patrick, Saint Joseph does have his very own day, and pastry celebrated on March 19th. Every year, the bakery inquiries persist “do you make Zeppole?” Not professionally, ( as we don’t have a fry-o-later) but personally, these bits of deliciousness are part of my March traditions. This blog post from 2014 and the recipe are classics! Zeppole are widely known throughout Italy as anything sweet and fried, so if you see them out in the world, enjoy!

Growing up American-Italian Roman Catholic, I've always loved feast days. Especially when these days are celebrated with food. Twelve years of Catholic school and a lifetime of my grandmother's unique superstitious religiousness meant plenty of first Friday masses, many loaves of holy  bread for Saint Rocco's day, ( August 17th) and an abundance of delicious fried zeppole for St. Joseph's day ( March 19th) .  I was never quite sure why these saints are celebrated with carbs, but I am more than happy to celebrate their inspirational lives this way.  Any readers with the answers, please advise. In the meantime, I think I'll fry up a batch of zeppole di San Giuseppe, a basic fried cream puff,  topped or filled with a traditional vanilla pastry cream.

Enjoy, and don't forget to pull the ear of someone named Joseph or Josephine, it's a tradition for their feast day .

ZEPPOLE

MAKES 24

These are best when fried, filled and enjoyed the same day.

for the Patsta Bigne

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup water

Pinch of salt

1 cup flour

4 eggs, at room temperature

Vegetable oil for frying

powdered sugar for garnish

1. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine butter, water, and salt. Bring to a boil. Add flour quickly, all at once, and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture comes away from the sides of the pan, and a film forms on the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes.

2. Remove pan from the heat. Spoon mixture into mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after adding each one. Mix well for a smooth sticky dough

3. Preheat oil in a medium pan over medium heat, or in an electric fryer to 350 F.

4. Place dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and  pipe dough onto a  2-inch square piece of oiled parchment paper. ( or you can spoon directly into hot oil) Slip into hot oil and fry until golden. Be sure to keep frying when dough puffs up and splits while frying. You wan to be sure they cook inside.

5. Drain on absorbent paper. Cool before filling.

6. Fill with vanilla pastry cream, dust tops with confectioners sugar.

for the Vanilla Pastry Cream( can be made 2 to 3 days in advance)

2 cups milk

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup corn starch

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium pan, over medium-low heat, bring 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of the sugar to a boil.

2. In a small bowl combine the remaining sugar, cornstarch, milk and egg yolks.  Once combined, strain.  Add the egg mixture to the boiling milk. Whisk constantly on medium-low heat until thick and has come to a boil.

3. Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.  Stir until smooth. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to avoid a skin forming on top as it cools.

4. Cool before filling zeppole.

5. To fill zeppole, fill a pastry bag with pastry cream. Insert bag into bottom of zepploe and squeeze pastry bag to fill the zeppole.

6. Dust tops with confectioners sugar.

Six Ways To Celebrate St. Joseph's Day, March 19th

1. Attend Mass.

2. Feed the hungry and poor.

3. Make a St. Joseph's Table or Altar.

4. Give a gift to someone in your family, or to a friend, named Joseph or Josephine; today is their name day!

5. March in a parade.

6. Wear red.

7. Eat zeppole!