I was so excited to get to work on this recipe. The week started with a pilgrimage to the grocery store to get flour and eggs and a few other bits and bobs. I knew exactly what I was making. Zeppole di San Giuseppe, aka St. Joseph’s Day Pastries from Italy. I first tried them at a small bakery in the town over from mine in Maine. Crisp, sugary choux pastry fried and filled with a rich vanilla pastry cream. I couldn’t wait to make them after years since last tasting them.

My First Zeppole Di San Giuseppe

I remember it well. A few years ago my mom picked up a big bakery box from her favorite spot, which is now gone. About 20 minutes from our house. On a beautiful spring day when the ice was nearly done melting and everything was tinged with a hopeful hue. She put in a special order from the affable bakery owners and came home with a sweet surprise. They gave her the wrong donuts, and she told me to enjoy as many as I wanted. Because for some reason, she doesn’t like pastry cream all that much. I didn’t even know what they were called.

The box was filled with sugar-dusted cruller-like pastries. Golden ridges filled with buttercup yellow pastry cream. With flecks of vanilla and a sweet, nostalgic scent. A little bit of citrus zest or something I couldn’t put my fingers on, too. The weather was warming so much that the pastry cream oozed out of the sides of the pastries. So after trying to pick one up by hand, I turned to a fork and knife to get the job done. I completely fell in love with the taste. The combination of crispy fried choux pastry and smooth vanilla pastry cream.

Creating My Own Recipe

I’m completely a chocolate person. And a coffee person. And if neither are available for dessert, I’ll turn to lemon. Especially in the summer. So, I’ve never been one to pick vanilla-flavored pastries. Like Zeppole Di San Giuseppe. I think tasting the donuts was one of the first times I tried really high quality, homemade pastry cream. It was rich and velvety but pudding-like and luscious. Filled with such a sweet and subtle vanilla flavor. I ate an whole donut and went back for another half because they were so good. I needed to know what they were called and where they came from.

But years went by and life got busy and I nearly forgot about my beloved crispy pastry cream donuts. Recently I was dreaming about them after working on pastry cream. The taste reminded me of the zeppole di san giuseppe filling, but with a pop of citrus. I’ve been planning to make this recipe for months, and I did a quick google search to figure out what they were called. I found Zeppole di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph’s Day Pastries) after a few minutes, with the same crispy piped edges of choux pastry and pastry cream. Topped with a cherry. Exactly what I was looking for.

Making St. Joseph’s Day Pastries

I scoured some recipes and realized they were just fried rings of choux pastry. Some piped the pastry cream scantily into the center and topped with a cherry. But I knew I needed to load them up with my favorite filling. I would slice them in half like burger buns and pipe a ring of pastry cream on the inside in addition to the crown of cream on top. I also couldn’t wait to paint these, with the gradient of shadows and browns from the crispy ridges. And I found out from google that St. Joseph’s Day was March 19th! It was the perfect time to make them.

I picked up a big bag of flour and a bunch of expensive eggs and couldn’t find vanilla beans. But luckily I had a good bottle of vanilla extract. I also was given a big ruby grapefruit this week, and I decided to use the zest in my pastry cream for a bright pop of citrus. I looked at St. Joseph’s Day Pastries online again and referenced my own choux pastry recipe. And I did some math to calculate how much pastry cream I should make. I couldn’t wait to get out my star tip and piping bags. Parchment paper. And to fill my new dutch oven with hot oil and get frying.

Choux Dough and Pastry Cream

I started the next morning by making my choux pastry. Wearing pajamas and Birkenstocks in the kitchen, listening to one of my favorite albums. The power actually went out for a few minutes out of nowhere. But just as soon as I could hunker down and give up for the day, it came back on, and I felt even more excited to get baking. I got out my eggs and flour and butter and wrote down my recipes on a couple sticky notes. I zested my grapefruit and nearly dropped the softball-sized thing in my bowl of eggs and sugar. After whisking them together and adding cornstarch, I heated up my cream with vanilla and salt and zest until it bubbled and slowly poured it into my eggs to temper.

After whisking together a beautiful creme anglaise and thinking of all the gelato flavors I’m going to make this summer, I poured it back into the pot. Turned up the heat. And whisked away for 5 minutes until it turned into a silky, luscious pudding. To finish it off I took it off the heat and added slices of butter, which melted beautifully. My whisk indented velvety thick whisk lines as I stirred. I stuck in my pinkie finger when it cooled and tasted that familiar sweet vanilla pudding with the silky texture of butter and perfume of grapefruit. It was so delicious. It went into the fridge to chill.

The V-Shaped Choux Dough

I started my choux by heating water and butter in a stock pot. I thought about using grapefruit juice instead of water, which you can definitely do, but I decided not to. Most chefs and bakers often think that the more flavor the better. But I’ve learned after years of cooking that sometimes things taste better if you pair something super flavorful with something more intentionally plain. By keeping the choux pastry standard, it allows the punch of the pastry cream to shine instead of clashing. And it helps my impulsivity to remind myself that making the standard recipe with water instead of fruit juice is easier to control and execute. I make fewer mistakes.

So, I made a classic choux dough. I chuted the flour into my hot water and butter and mixed it all up into a thick ball of dough with a wooden spoon. I cooked it for a few minutes to get out the harsh flour taste. Then, I placed my pot on my cutting board to cool a little and I plugged in my navy blue stand mixer. Kitchen Aid mixers are one of the best parts of baking, and make things so much easier. So I would highly recommend one if you’re looking to really get into baking. I popped the dough in the bowl and locked in the paddle attachment. And I let it rip indefinitely as I cleaned up and prepped my eggs. The point is to knock the air out of the dough and to cool it down before adding the eggs.

Fried, Crispy Choux Donuts

Then, it comes together into a magical cookie-dough like texture when you add your eggs. The trick I’ve learned is to whisk all your eggs together in a cup beforehand and pour it in a little at a time. Take your time and check the texture. It should hang off the paddle like a cake batter, but not fall off. It’s supposed to make a “V” shape. I always lean towards a thicker dough rather than a thinner one, especially when piping them into eclairs or gougers and baking them. Once I was happy with my bright yellow dough, I placed it all into my piping bag. Forgetting to put in the star piping tip before. But it was fine. I pushed all the dough into the bottom of the bag with a bench scraper and twirled the plastic end.

I held the piping tip over the cut-end of the piping bag and piped 6 mounds of rigid choux dough on parchment paper. At this point, too, my oil was heating and getting ready for frying. To pipe zeppole di san giuseppe, you pipe a ring shape but continue piping another ring on top of the first, for a two-tiered circle. Make sure to use a star tip to get all those crispy, hard edges, like a cruller. Once they were all piped I cut the parchment around them so each donut was easy to pick up on its own by the paper. And I tested my hot oil with a little piece of dough. It was bubbly and ready.

Finishing the Zeppole Di San Giuseppe

I love frying stuff. But I don’t do it often. The oil is expensive and creates a lot of waste. And my friend in high school got badly burnt one time when making churros, which I’ve always had in the back of my head. You can monitor your oil temperature with a candy thermometer, but I usually just use my instincts. I threw three of my St. Joseph’s Day Pastries into the oil by the paper and watched as they bubbled and floated and began to brown. Quickly the papers began to separate and I picked them out with my fingertips. Which I don’t recommend. Do as I say, not as I do. After a couple minutes I flipped them over with my spider and carefully tapped the golden brown bottoms.

After another few minutes I flipped my donuts again and marveled at the golden crowns of star-tipped choux dough. Fried like churros in big rings. I would recommend frying St. Joseph’s Day Pastries a little longer than you think. Don’t be afraid to get them more deeply golden, just to make sure the insides are cooked and hollow. One of mine was a little undercooked in the center, but it still tasted good. After they came out, they rested on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and I ripped off little pieces of one to taste. A delightful, slightly eggy dough that crisps and shatters in your mouth while keeping a delicious toothsomeness. Once they cooled, I sliced them open and piped in my pastry cream.

The Cherry on Top of St. Joseph’s Day Pastries

I finished my zeppole di san giuseppe around noon with a light dusting of powdered sugar. I decided to leave off the classic cherry on top. Just because I’m not a big cherry person. I used the same star tip to pipe my pastry cream into the centers, which creates a beautiful yellow crown. The dough is incredibly and impossibly light. So adding the pastry cream weighs it down but creates a beautiful contrast in texture. I ate a whole donut before lunch, and melted at the perfect texture of pastry cream and fresh-fried St. Joseph’s Day Pastries. They’re truly one of my favorite desserts.

The pastry cream is rich, thick, and buttery. Filled with vanilla essence and a light pop of citrus zest. A little salt, too. It melts and melds into your tongue as you bite into the crisp edges of the fried choux. Jagged, golden edges with sweet powdered sugar on top. It’s a simple combination – crispy fried donut with silky pastry cream. But it tastes incredible. The light pop of citrus really cuts down on the richness and heaviness of the fried pastry. Yet, frying choux instead of a classic donut dough keeps it incredibly airy and allows the pastry cream to melt into the nooks and crannies.

St. Joseph’s Day Donuts

This is truly one of my favorite pastries, and I’m so glad I finally got to make them! I gave one to my dad, too, to celebrate Italian Father’s Day. St. Joseph’s Day. I highly recommend making these, even if not on the 19th, just to taste them. You can also get creative and add chocolate or coffee to the pastry cream if you want to try something new. I’m a big fan of the classic. Try adding orange or lemon zest. A little lemon juice if you want. Or coconut, coffee, or lemon extract. You can also just make the pastry cream on its own and dig in with a spoon for the most luscious and delicious pudding ever.

Thank you for reading! Be sure to check out my Etsy for 100’s or watercolor art prints and recipe cards. Including my Zeppole Di San Giuseppe painting. Use code THEFORKEDRING for 25% off.

Print Pin

Zeppole Di San Giuseppe

Choux rings fried and filled with vanilla and citrus pastry cream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Keyword donuts, pastry cream

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author theforkedring

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 3 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp orange or grapefruit zest
• 2 tbsp orange or grapefruit juice
• 4 large eggs + 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar + 2 tbsp
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 12 tbsp butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/3 cups AP Flour
• 6-8 cups neutral frying oil (peanut or vegetable)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

• Heat heavy cream in a medium stock pot over medium-high heat. Add 3 tsp vanilla extract, citrus zest, and citrus juice.
• In a large heatproof bowl, whisk 3 egg yolks with cornstarch, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy.
• When your cream is bubbling and steamy, remove from heat and gradually add to your egg mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer mixture back to stock pot.
• Cook mixture for 5-10 minutes while whisking constantly until thickened and pudding-like. Remove from heat and work in 8 tbsp sliced cold butter.
• Let pastry cream cool for 10-15 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least 1-2 hours.
• To make choux pastry, add 1 cup water, 2 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 4 tbsp butter into a clean stock pot. Heat over medium-high until fully melted and mix together.
• Add your flour and 3/4 tsp salt and mix into a dough with a wooden spoon or nonstick spatula. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, to cook out the flour taste.
• Remove dough from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
• Heat enough oil in a large sauté pan or dutch oven to fill the pot 4-5 inches high. Heat over medium-high until the oil temperature reaches 375°F, or until a piece of batter bubbles and sizzles quickly.
• Transfer dough to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer) and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes until there is no more steam and the dough is lukewarm, not hot.
• Whisk your 4 whole eggs in a bowl until combined. Turn your mixer up to medium-high and gradually add eggs until you achieve a thick cake-like batter. Firm enough to hold on the beater but loose enough to drop and form a V-shape.
• Transfer your choux dough to a large piping bag with a star tip. Pipe a ring on parchment paper and continue piping a second ring on top of the dough. Repeat to make 5 more donuts, evenly spaced on the parchment.
• Cut your parchment paper around the choux dough and fry donuts in batches of 3, carefully removing each piece of parchment paper from the hot oil after they start to cook.
• Turn donuts after 2-3 minutes, browning fully on each side, for a total of 6-8 minutes. Remove donuts with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet.
• Once your donuts are done frying and are slightly cooled, remove your pastry cream from the fridge and transfer to a large piping bag with a star tip.
• Slice each donut in half like a hamburger bun and pipe a circle of pastry cream into each, sandwiching the other donut half on top.
• Dust each donut with powdered sugar and pipe another bit of pastry cream into the center of each donut. Top with a cherry, if you like them.

Notes

• If you’re worried about undercooking your donuts, fry one first as a test donut and time it. Adjust frying time as needed. 
• The more donuts you fry at once, the lower the oil temperature will be. So try not to fry more than 3 at a time. 
• If you have a candy thermometer it helps regulate the temperature of your oil.