Zeppole di San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph’s Cakes)

Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17th, is a day of celebration filled with parades, parties, and lots of fun, food and drink. Right on the heels of this Irish-inspired day of celebration is the Feast of Saint Joseph, which is celebrated on March 19th. Although this day may not be honored with parades, songs and green beer, it is celebrated with one of my all time favorite Italian pastries, Zeppole di San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph’s Cakes).

Zeppole is an Italian cream filled pastry, similar to a cream puff. The cream fillings most often used are chocolate, vanilla, or ricotta. The pastries are usually topped with a candied cherry, and you must not forget the dusting of powdered sugar to finish it off!

The recipe that I’m sharing with you today uses mascarpone cheese in place of the more traditional ricotta. I am a huge fan of mascarpone, which is a soft, spreadable Italian cream cheese. I often crave the creamy texture that is created when mascarpone is folded into home made whipped cream. With the addition of some powdered sugar and vanilla extract for flavoring, and mini chocolate chips for extra fun texture and sweetness, this version of an Italian cream filling can do no wrong.

There are two methods that you can use to shape the pastry. You can pipe the pastry dough with a pastry bag, or you can simply use a tablespoon to scoop out individual dollops of pastry dough. You can make the puffed pastries and the cream filling ahead of time. The puffed pastries will keep well in an air-tight container for 1-2 days. You can also freeze them for a few months. They will defrost at room temperature in about 10 short minutes. The cream filling can also be made ahead of time and will stay well in the fridge for a few days. Just be sure to not assemble the zeppole until you are ready to serve them. You can add the cream with a spoon, spatula or a pastry bag if you have one.

As I mentioned above, these cakes are often topped with a candied cherry. A maraschino cherry fresh out of the jar would also work, but there is something fun and elegant about the candied cherry. While candied cherries are easier to find during the holiday season, I do have a go-to recipe for home made candied cherries, which can be found at the bottom of this post. It’s a fairly simple recipe, which takes about an hour to prepare. But again, the cherry on top is just that….the cherry on top. It’s not necessary, and once you get a taste of this dessert (with or without the cherry), I’m sure you’ll agree that it is a timeless treat.

Zeppole di San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph’s Cakes)

Makes 1 Dozen Zeppole

For the pastry:
1/2 cup (or 8 tablespoons) butter
1 cup water
1 pinch salt
1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the butter, water and salt into a sauce pan, bring to a rolling boil. Once the butter has melted, lower heat to medium. Stir in flour and beat vigorously until a dough ball is formed. Transfer the dough ball to a mixing bowl, let cool. Beat the eggs into the dough, one egg at a time, until all eggs have been fully incorporated.

Using a pastry bag with a star tip, pipe the dough onto a parchment covered baking sheet in a circular motion. You’re looking to make a donut shape about 3 to 4 inches wide. If you don’t have a pastry bag, you can drop the dough onto the baking sheet one tablespoon at a time (making a solid shaped pastry). You should get 12 individual donut shapes or dough balls. Bake until the dough puffs up and are golden brown on top. About 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

For the Italian cream filling:
2 cups (or 1 pint) heavy whipping cream
1/4 to 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar (adjust the amount of sweetness to your liking)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Combine cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a chilled mixing bowl (the bowl MUST be chilled). Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, mix together until soft peaks start to form. Continue to mix, adding the mascarpone cheese a little at a time. Adding all of the mascarpone cheese at once will cause splashing. Continue to mix until stiff peaks form. Stir in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate in a container until ready to use.

To assemble:
When ready to serve, use a spoon, spatula or a piping bag to fill the center of the donut shaped pastries with the whipped cream. Top with a candies cherry and powdered sugar. For the tablespoon-dropped pastries, cut the pastry in half and fill it with the cream.

To make the candied cherries, you can click on the following link:
Candied Cherries Recipe

Raspberry Lemon Love Cake

NOTE – this is not a light and fluffy cake recipe. The texture of any Love Cake will be a bit heavy and somewhat moist from the ricotta…and it is damn good!

Italian Love Cake has been a part of my Mom’s Easter pie tradition for many years. Made with layers of chocolate cake and ricotta filling with a chocolate whipped topping, this rich and decadent dessert never disappoints. What is really fascinating about this dessert is the assembly. The cake batter is poured into the pan first, then topped with the ricotta filling. As it bakes, the ricotta sinks to the bottom, raising the cake batter to the top, so both layers are accented with each other’s flavor during the transformation process. Pure magic!

Recently, I watched Valerie Bertinelli make a strawberry lemon version of Love Cake, using a strawberry cake, ricotta and mascarpone filling, and a lemon mascarpone whipped topping. With the warmer weather heading our way, this sounded like the perfect dessert for a summer party. However, I decided to give this dessert my own little spin, and with a few ingredient swaps and some additional attention given during the baking process (more on that in a bit), I am happy to say that the cake turned out exactly as I had hoped!

Instead of using Valerie’s strawberry and lemon combination, I opted for raspberry and lemon, which happens to be one of may favorite summer combinations. I started by switching out the strawberry box cake for a lemon box cake (lemon cake has always been a guilty pleasure of mine). I then incorporated 6 ounces of puréed fresh raspberries and some lemon zest into the ricotta and mascarpone filling, which really added a nice, summery flavor. I kept Valerie’s lemon and mascarpone whipped topping as is, because it just sounded so perfect.

Giving a little extra love to the Love Cake (a.k.a. my center runneth over!)

To bake the cake, I followed the same steps as I would with a traditional Love Cake. The prepared lemon cake batter was poured into the tray first, then topped with the raspberry and lemon flavored ricotta and mascarpone filling, and into the oven it went. Before I go any further, I must explain to you the two steps that I took  that may (or may not) have altered things a bit.

1. The directions say for you to pour the batters into a 9″ x 13″ pan. Because we wanted to bring only a portion of the dessert to my Mom’s house, I decided to pour the batters into two 8″ x 8″ pans, taking one with us and leaving the other at home.
2. As I mentioned, I decided to add 6 ounces of fresh raspberry purée to the ricotta and mascarpone…which, in turn, is adding an additional 6 ounces of liquid to the recipe.

How did these two steps possibly alter the recipe, you ask?  The direction for the original recipe calls for you to bake the cake for 50-60 minutes, or until the entire cake is set and a skewer piercing comes out clean. After a good 60 minutes in the oven, the centers of both 8″ x 8″ pans were still very loose. My first thought was that splitting the pans wasn’t a good idea. Then I thought that adding the additional 6 ounces of liquid to the mix could have been the culprit. Both suggestions are feasable. But as I went back to the original recipe to see if any steps were missed, I noticed that some of the reviews had the same complaint. Their centers had also runneth over! Now I’m not blaming Valerie for this, as I am a fan of both her cooking show and her recipes, and the cake does contain a fair amount of wet ingredients. Also, not everyone’s oven may be calibrated exactly the same. Really, I just don’t want to upset Valerie!

To ensure that the center would finish baking without having the already baked outer portions burn to a crisp, I removed both pans from the oven, covered the outer edges with aluminum foil so that only the soft center was exposed, and popped them back into the oven for an additional half hour. Success!!!

Long story short, a little extra love may be needed for this recipe…but oh, it’s worth it!

Raspberry Lemon Love Cake

Adapted from Valerie Bertinelli’s Strawberry Lemon Love Cake

• Nonstick cooking spray, for the baking pan(s)
• One 16.5-ounce box lemon cake mix (plus required ingredients) 
• 32 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese 
• 3/4 cup sugar 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 4 large eggs  
• 16 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup milk 
• One 3.4-ounce box instant lemon pudding mix
• 6 ounces fresh raspberries, puréed
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan (or two 8″ x 8″ baking pans) with cooking spray.

Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions and pour it into the prepared pan(s). Set aside.

Combine the ricotta, sugar, vanilla, eggs and 4 ounces (1/2 cup) of the mascarpone in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Fold in the puréed raspberries and lemon zest. Gently scoop the filling onto the cake batter, covering it completely.

Bake until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean and the lemon cake layer has risen to the top, 50 to 60 minutes.

*NOTE – if the center of the cake is not fully set after 60 minutes, remove the pan(s) from the oven and  cover the outer edges with aluminum foil. Return the pan(s) to the oven for an additional 20-30 minutes, or until the center is fully set. 

Cool completely on a rack.

Beat the remaining 12 ounces mascarpone in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the milk, beating until smooth. Add the pudding mix and beat until smooth. Let stand until thickened, about 5 minutes. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake(s).

Refrigerate until ready to serve. You can top the cakes with additional raspberries and lemon zest to really impress!

Nutella and Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast

Another Nor’easter in the Philadelphia area…another day spent indoors, figuring out what to eat next. If you’re stocked up on the snowstorm essentials (bread, eggs and milk), try giving this decadent recipe a shot. With just a few additional ingredients (sliced fruit of your choice, and my two favorite Italian spreads, Nutella and Mascarpone), this breakfast beauty will be sure to add a little sunshine to yet another dreary winter’s day!

Nutella and Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast

Makes 3 stuffed sandwiches
6 slices of bread (white or wheat are preferable)
sliced fruit (my personal choices are banana and strawberries)
Nutella (any other brand of hazelnut spread will work)
Mascarpone cheese (you can also use cream cheese)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup milk

Start by lightly toasting the bread (it helps hold the sandwich together). Spread one piece of the toast with Nutella, spread another piece with Mascarpone cheese. Add the fresh sliced fruit to the two pieces of bread to make a sandwich. Repeat with the other four slices of bread and remaining fruit.

Mix together the egg, vanilla extract, cinnamon and milk. Dip the sandwiches into the egg batter.

Cook the sandwiches on a lightly greased medium hot skillet or griddle until golden brown on both sides. Top with powdered sugar and serve with syrup on the side.

Lemon Mascarpone Whipped Cream

Memorial Day weekend is here once again, and it is time to start thinking about light and refreshing sweet summer recipes! Today, I’m sharing with you a super easy dessert recipe that can be used in many creative ways. We’re starting off with a basic home made whipped cream. Next, we’re going to build up the creamy texture by adding mascarpone cheese, which is a delicious Italian style cream cheese. To finish it off, we’re adding some fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. You can use this citrusy light whipped cream as a topping for pancakes or waffles, as a dip for fresh fruit and graham crackers (you will not believe how good this tastes with fresh strawberries and blueberries), as an icing for a spongy summer cake…or let’s be honest, you can even eat it on its own by the spoonful!

Lemon Mascarpone Whipped Cream

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (plus extra if needed)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a chilled mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, mix together until soft peaks start to form. Continue to mix, adding the mascarpone cheese a little at a time. Adding all of the mascarpone cheese at once will cause splashing. Continue to mix until stiff peaks form. Fold in the lemon zest and lemon juice. You can add additional powdered sugar if you prefer the whipped cream to be sweeter. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.