Go Back
–+ servings
St Joseph's pastry in a close up, with pastry cream and amarena on top. In the background more zeppole.

St Joseph’s Pastries(Zeppole di San Giuseppe)

Baked Saint Joseph's pastries( or zeppole di San giuseppe) are desserts made with Choux pastry, also known as pâte à choux or choux pastry. They have the shape of large cream puffs and are filled and decorated with pastry cream or Chantilly cream. They are prepared for Father's Day, which is celebrated in Italy on March 19th.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course cake, Dessert
Cuisine Campania, Italian, Naples
Servings 12 zeppoles
Calories 152 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 whisk
  • 1 silicone or rubber spatula
  • 1 high-sided pot
  • 1 pastry bag
  • 1 star-shaped tip for the pastry bag
  • 1 baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Ingredients
 
 

For the Choux dough:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 cup water (at room temperature)
  • 8 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp Salt

For the pastry cream:

  • 1 cups whole milk
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • ¾ cups cornstarch
  • Finely grated zest of fresh orange
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or the seeds of one vanilla bean)
  • 3 egg yolks

Decorating the zeppoles

  • Syrup-soaked sour cherries (one for each Italian pastry made)
  • Powdered sugar

Instructions
 

Preparation of Choux pastry:

  • In a high-sided pot, pour water and diced butter. Transfer the pot to medium heat.
  • As soon as the butter starts to melt and the water heats up, add a pinch of salt. Stir with a wooden spoon.
  • As soon as the butter is completely melted and the water begins to boil.
  • Add all the flour at once and stir with a wooden spoon until completely absorbed.
  • The result should be a compact but not too hard dough. Keep on the stove, medium heat.
  • It's important to maintain medium heat during this process. The ingredients will bind together, creating a solid dough that you can shape into a ball.
  • The dough should be compact but not too hard. Work for about 10 minutes in total.
  • Once you've finished combining and compacting these ingredients, move on to the second phase of the recipe, which is adding the eggs to the dough.
  • Remove from the stove. Let it rest 5- to 10 minutes until the dough has cooled slightly.
  • Proceed by adding the eggs, one at a time. Work with a spoon or fork. If you’re using a stand mixer, transfer the dough to the mixer bowl. Use the paddle attachment.
  • Wait for each egg you’re working on to be well absorbed before adding the next one.
  • When your dough is ready, the final result should be a soft mixture but with a fairly compact structure.
  • Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip.
  • To shape your puffs, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, create a ring of dough using a piping bag.
  • Trace a circle until the dough closes on itself. I like to make two overlapping circles. Don’t spread the diameter too much.

Oven baked zeppole di San Giuseppe

  • Preheat the oven to 392 °F in static mode.
  • Place the St Joseph’s zeppole in the oven on the lowest rack and bake for 20 minutes.
  • After 20 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 338 °F. continue baking for another 10 minutes with the oven door slightly ajar.
  • You can simulate leaving the oven door ajar at home by using a piece of paper, aluminum foil, or a small cloth.
  • Remove from the oven and let the zeppoles cool down completely.

Fried zeppole di San Giuseppe

  • Cut out 3-4 inch squares of parchment paper.
  • Pipe the dough into a ring onto a single square of parchment paper.
  • Fill a large frypan 3/4 full of oil, such as olive oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, or corn oil, taking note of the smoke point of the oil. (See notes about oil smoking points).
  • Once the oil reaches the correct smoke point, you can begin dipping your parchment paper squares.
  • The dough will fry and rise during the cooking process. Use a pair of tongs to turn the zeppoles over after 3-4 minutes, ensuring they don’t become too brown on the bottom.
  • When the st Joseph pastries are light brown on both sides, remove them from the frypan and place them on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Pastry cream- Crema pasticcera.

  • In a saucepan, combine the milk, butter, vanilla bean seeds (or vanilla extract), and finely sliced orange zest. Heat over medium-high heat.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together sugar and cornstarch. Combine with a whisk.
  • Add the egg yolks to the sugar and cornstarch mixture and mix well until thick and creamy.
  • Once the milk mixture is very hot, almost boiling, remove it from the heat. It should not boil.
  • Transfer the hot milk to the bowl with the sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks mixture. With a whisk, quickly work everything together until the powders are completely dissolved in the milk.
  • Transfer everything back to the saucepan and place it back on the heat. Continue cooking while stirring constantly.
  • The cream will begin to thicken after just a minute or two. Work vigorously to prevent lumps from forming.
  • Turn off the heat. Continue to work until the cream reaches the right thickness and is smooth. Immediately remove from the saucepan and transfer to a glass bowl.
  • Cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap should be in direct contact with the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming.

Assemble the zeppoles

  • Transfer the pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip.
  • Carefully cut the zeppole in half with a knife and, starting from the center in a circular motion, apply a layer of pastry cream inside. I like using the star pipe or a finger to make a little hole at the bottom of the zeppoles and pipe some crema pasticcera inside.
  • Reassemble the zeppoles by placing the top part of the puff over the pastry cream filling. Starting from the center, apply a swirl of pastry cream on top.
  • Decorate with an amarena cherry and powdered sugar.

Notes

If you need to make more or fewer st Joseph pastries, use the serving size adjuster in the recipe card. Adjust the number of zeppole under the “Servings” section, and the quantities will adapt accordingly, or use the 1x,2x,3x settings to double or triple your servings.
  • Measure all your ingredient with a kitchen scale. If you use cups it is easy to not measure the correct amount of water or flour and end up with a runny batch. 
  • Use a flour with at least 11-12% of proteins. It is not a must-do, but high protein flours are better for this type of recipe.
  • Follow the steps without skipping any, this recipe could turn into a disaster in a minute!
  • Wait for the St Joseph’s zeppole to cool well before filling them.
  • Let the water evaporate. When preparing the initial Choux pastry dough, it’s important to cook the dough for at least 5 minutes while stirring with a wooden spoon. This will evaporate as much water as possible from the dough. If you skip this step, you risk the final dough being too liquid and not consistent enough due to the high residual water content.
  • Make ahead. If you want to prepare the puffs in advance, you can do so, even several days ahead. Store the zeppole in a container with a lid. Do not fill the zeppole until the day you plan to serve them.
  • Crema pasticcera. You can make your crema pasticcera the day before and refrigerate it. 
  • Crema pasticcera ingredients. I made my cream with whole milk and fresh eggs. You can also use partially skimmed milk (2% fat) if you prefer, but I don’t recommend using other types of milk (such as lactose-free milk, coconut milk, or milk with fat percentages lower than 2% total fat).
  • Flat puffs. Means you didn’t cook them enough. Extend the baking time. Ovens are usually all different, so the baking time can be slightly different.

Fried St Joseph pastries. Smoke point for the oils are:

  • olive oil is 410°F (210°C)
  • peanut oil is 441-445°F(227-229°C)
  • sunflower oil is 320°F(160°C)
  • corn oil 446-460°F (230-238°C)

Additional toppings

Fill and decorate St Joseph’s pastries, you have a variety of options, from chocolate drizzles, hazelnuts cream to fruit-based creams. Just let your imagination run wild!

How store your St Joseph day pastries

Store puffs in a dry container with a lid for up to five days when not filled. However, if filled with pastry creams, they should be consumed within 6 to 12 hours, as they tend to become mushy over time.
If you have leftover zeppoles, store them in a container with a lid and place them directly in the refrigerator. Do not leave them out for more than 12 hours, as the risk is the cream going bad.

How serve

Serve them on their own or accompanied by a fine liqueur such as limoncello, mandarinetto or citrus cream liqueur. They pair wonderfully with black espresso or coffee.
You will love them with cappuccino for breakfast or an afternoon break. They are a perfect dessert for any event, adding a touch of sweetness and indulgence to any celebration.

Nutrition

Serving: 150g | Calories: 152kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 128mg | Sodium: 254mg | Potassium: 74mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 301IU | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg

Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!