Zeppole di San Giuseppe are traditional Italian cream filled pastries which are made for the Feast of St Joseph. Use this step by step Zeppole di San Giuseppe recipe for perfect results every time.
Originally published on March 18, 2016.
You know that Italians have particular dishes and recipes for every special day, event, holiday, celebration, etc., right?
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Well, St. Joseph’s Day is no exception. March 19th is dedicated to St. Joseph and you may recall that last year, I posted these delicious rice fritters for the occasion.
This year, I’d like to introduce you to another treat that’s made especially for St. Joseph’s Feast Day. They are named after him: Zeppole di San Giuseppe. Giuseppe is Italian for Joseph. Although there will be a Zeppole di San Giuseppe recipe that varies from Italian to Italian, they are mostly all the same.
There are Christmas Eve zeppole, too! They are also called frittelle (Italian doughnuts).
However, I will remind you that all of my recipes are honest to goodness, tried and tested in my kitchen. I just found a photo of my zeppole with another recipe–its so wrong! You will not get these results with a different recipe. Why are they using (stealing) my photo? Obviously, theirs is either not a tested recipe or they didn’t turn out well, right? Sadly, this happens a lot.
What are Zeppole di San Giuseppe?
Zeppole di San Giuseppe are made from a very slightly sweetened choux pastry. They are filled and topped with pastry cream (crema pasticcera), dusted with powdered sugar and crowned with a syrupy Italian cherry. Nothing super fancy, and overall, zeppole are quite simple to make.
How do I Make Zeppole di San Giuseppe?
First, make the pastry dough, pipe it out on a cookie sheet and bake. While they’re baking, you’ll make the pastry cream filling and fill the baked zeppole when they’re cool. Dust with powdered sugar and top with an Italian cherry! Let’s get right to the zeppole recipe.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe Recipe
(St. Joseph’s Day Traditional Italian Pastries)
Adapted from my cream puff recipe. Makes 16 zeppole.
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW.
Heat oven to 400ºF (200ºC)
Begin preparing the choux pastry by placing the butter, sugar and water in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a rolling boil. Next, add the flour all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for about a minute until the mixture forms a ball.
Remove from heat, keep stirring to cool the dough a little, then add an egg and beat well until well incorporated, before adding the next. Repeat with remaining eggs until the batter is smooth and satiny.
Next, place the mixture in a piping bag with a 2D or other tip, or spoon onto a baking tray lined with a silicone sheet or parchment paper. Pipe or shape into small puffs, about 3″ apart. If piping, shape the upper part of the pastry so there is a small hole in the center, or make one with the back of a teaspoon.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Turn off oven, and leave for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
While the cream puffs are baking, make the filling.
How to Make Crema Pasticcera
Place the egg yolks, sugar, potato starch, salt and vanilla into a pot and whisk together. Begin pouring in the warm milk, then turn the burner on a low heat.
Continue whisking and pouring, and gradually increase the heat. Cook until the mixture thickens and is cooked (it will be a few minutes). Cool the pastry cream stirring occasionally.
How to Assemble Zeppole di San Giuseppe
Make a hole with a skewer into the side of the choux pastry bun and fill with pastry cream using a piping bag.
Now, pipe more filling onto the indentation on top and dust with powdered sugar. See, I told you my Zeppole di San Giuseppe recipe was easy with my step by step instructions!
Finally, top with a cherry, or whatever you’d like to use.
Repeat with the rest of the pastries. Enjoy!
Please let me know what you think of my Zeppole di San Giuseppe recipe if you make them. I love to hear from you!
Zeppole di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's Day Traditional Italian Pastries)
Traditional Italian pastries made for St Joseph's Day festivities and celebrations.
Ingredients
Ingredients for pastry
- (4 oz) 1/2 cup butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons of sugar
- (8 oz) 1 cup water
- (5 oz) 1 cup flour
- 4 eggs at room temperature
Filling
- 2 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup (200 ml) milk at room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp (5 oz) sugar
- 2 ¼ tbsp corn starch or potato starch
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- powdered sugar to sprinkle
- Fabbri cherries (optional) use an organic maraschino or omit
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400ºF.
- First prepare the choux pastry, by placing the butter, sugar and water in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, until it comes to a rolling boil. Add the flour, all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for about a minute until the mixture forms a ball.
- Remove from heat, add an egg, and beat well, until well incorporated, before adding the next egg. Repeat with remaining eggs, until. the batter is smooth and satiny.
- Place in piping bag or spoon onto a baking tray lined with a silicone sheet or parchment paper into small puffs, about 3" apart. Pipe the upper part of the pastry so there is a small hole in the center, or make one with the back of a teaspoon.
- Bake for about 30 minutes. Turn off oven, and leave for 10 minutes, then place on cooling rack.
- While the cream puffs are baking, make the filling. Place the egg yolks, sugar, corn or potato starch, salt and vanilla into a pot and whisk together. Begin pouring in the warm milk, then turn the burner on a low heat. Continue whisking and pouring, and gradually increase the heat. Cook until the mixture thickens and is cooked (it will be a few minutes.)
- Make a hole with a skewer, into the side of the choux pastry and fill with pastry cream using a piping bag. Pipe more filling into the indentation on top and dust with powdered sugar.
- Top with a cherry, or whatever you want to use. Repeat with remaining pastries.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 151Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 80mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 0gSugar: 9gProtein: 3g
Columba di Pasqua is a traditional Italian sweet dove bread. Plan ahead and buy the proper paper mold for this one or you’ll have to improvise like me.
And how about putting Welsh Cakes for St. David’s Day on the calendar for next year? (March 1st)
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Hi Christina, how long does the dough have to cool before adding the eggs?
Hi Eneria, that’s a tough one as I can’t tell you in actual minutes as it will vary. Just keep stirring off the heat to cool it down and when you think that it is not going to cook the eggs, it should be fine. If you add them immediately, they will cook and won’t mix in properly. If you have a kitchen thermometer, about 145°F (63°C) will be okay to add the eggs. Enjoy!
Hello. Should the eggs be large? Medium?
Hi Cathy, always large. Enjoy!
Hi Christina,
I’ve made these twice now and they are so delicious! My husband (from NY) claims they might even be better than the St. Joseph’s Day pastries from the Italian delis back home.
Your recipe says it should take “a few minutes” for the filling to thicken. Each time I have made it, it’s upwards of 20 minutes before the mixture is anything but liquidy. Should I be increasing the heat more rapidly or is twenty+ minutes the few you had envisioned? Thank you!
Hi Erin! Oooh, that’s a lovely compliment, thanks so much! I would say, yes, you’re probably cooking it too slowly as it shouldn’t take 20 minutes. However, be careful and don’t put the heat up too high right away. I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Enjoy and thanks again!
Help please! I made and loved the cream but I found that I had to triple the recipe to get enough cream for 12 regular size zeppole. Am I doing something wrong? I’ve come across other recipes with very similar ingredients except they use close to 1L of milk and so maybe that’s how it yields a lot more. Any suggestions to get more cream out of the recipe without multiplying the eggs? Can I add more milk and keep other ingredients the same? Thanks!
Hi Teresa, I just think you’re adding more cream to the zeppole than the rest of us, maybe? You can add more milk, but it will be less thick. Without testing it myself, it’s hard to give advice. Good luck!
How cool does the cream need to be before piping? Room temperature? Or refrigerator cold?
Room temperature is fine, but you can also keep it in the fridge if you need to. Enjoy, Amanda!
In the spirit of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, I made this dessert and they were a total hit. Your instruction are clear and very easy to follow. I will be making this again and sharing the recipe with friends and family.
Thanks for the great share Christina, I am glad I bumped into this recipe.
Cheers!
Oh thank you, Monica. Good to hear, and I’m glad you liked it and hope you find other recipes to enjoy on my site! :)
Hi. The 1st time I made these they were perfect. I had issues with the pastry bag (it broke) but I managed with a plastic bag.
The cream puffs were light and rose beautifully.
I just made them again with my new piping set.
They didn’t rise. Any thoughts as to what might have gone wrong?
Would the size of the piping tip make a difference?
No, the tip wouldn’t make a difference, but someone else had this issue and I think you might be adding the eggs while the dough isn’t cool enough. Do you remember if you cooled it more the first time?
I don’t remember if I cooled the dough more the 1st time. I’ll make sure it’s cool before adding eggs next time. Thank you so much!