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