St Joseph’s Day Zeppole

For the pastry shells:

Preheat oven to 375 F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a large pot over medium heat, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Turn burner down to low. Add flour into the pot and stir until just combined. Return to stove and continue to stir over low heat until a dough ball is formed. Then remove from heat.

Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer (a handheld mixer will work too on a low speed). Add eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the sides of the bowl upon adding each egg. Batter should be smooth and glossy. Once combined, set bowl aside.

Allow mixture to cool. Meanwhile trace eight 2 1/2 inch circles on the underside of the parchment paper. You’ll use these as a guide when piping the spirals.

When mixture has cooled a bit, add it into a pastry bag. Beginning in the center of each traced circle, start spiraling out to fill the circle, then go around the outside of the circles to build up the outer wall. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.

For the filling:
In a saucepan, whisk together milk and egg yolks. Set the pan over medium heat and whisk in sugar and cornstarch. Whisk constantly until boiling, then whisk vigorously for another minute. Remove from heat, add orange zest, rum and vanilla.

Transfer into a bowl, cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap to avoid a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

When the shells and the custard have cooled, whip the whipping cream until thick peaks are formed then fold into custard. Add creme mixture into a pastry bag.

Slice the shells in half horizontally. Pipe a ring of creme inside the bottom half of each shell, then put the top on. Then pipe a small ring of creme atop each filled shell. Top with a cherry.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cover leftovers with plastic wrap to avoid the creme from drying out.

Buon appetito!

Recipe adapted from, keyingredient.com