Zeppole (zeppoli) is a fried choux pastry traditionally eaten on March 19th, which is St. Joseph Day (la festa di San Giuseppe), also father’s day in Italy. Like cream puffs, it is usually filled with custard cream but I used mascarpone cheese like tiramisu. Father’s day in Japan is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in June, but I made zeppole for a change.
Cooking Information
Difficulty: Medium
Time: 1 hour
Number of servings: 20
Ingredients
Choux Pastry:
125ml water
75g (2.7oz.) unsalted butter
a pinch of salt & sugar
100g (3.5oz.) cake flour
3 eggs *room temperature
Filling:
100g (3.5oz.) mascarpone cheese
60ml heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp. fresh strawberry jam
Decoration:
fresh strawberries
powdered sugar
Directions
Choux Pastry:
1. Put water, butter, salt and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil.
2. Remove pan from heat and sift flour in all at once. Mix well with a spatula or spoon until smooth.
3. Heat it again and stir until mixture forms a ball.
4. When you see pan coated with a thin film of the batter, stop heat and transfer the batter to a bowl.
5. Add beaten eggs little by little and mix well.
6. Cut parchment paper into twenty 3-inch squares.
7. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip.
8. Pipe 2-inch rings onto parchment papers. Refrigerate them for a few minutes to set.
9. Deep fry in oil at 320F (160C), 3-4 pieces at a time, for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden.
10. Let cool completely.
Filling:
1. Beat heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
2. Mix #1, mascarpone cheese, and fresh strawberry jam in a bowl.
3. Transfer cream to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe it onto the choux pastries.
Decoration:
1. Top with strawberries (cut into heart shape if you like) and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
2. Refrigerate and serve cold.
You can bake them:
Spray some water and bake at 392F (200C) for 20 min.
Video
[youtube url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJUAQ7beu_g]
Question Answer
Is it okay if i eat it without the filling cuz im too lazy to do it ?
Just with nutela or jam might be good.
How to make a heart shaped strawberry?
I used a heart shaped cookie cutter.
Is it possible to bake it in oven? I don’t really like deep frying food.
Yes.
I was wondering how long does this pastry last? Do I need to put it in the fridge?
When foods are deep fried, it is better eaten right away!
If I put the flour on the sauce pan, must it still be warm or let it cool before you put in flour?
Yes, warm!
Can someone convert the measurements for me? not sure if im right but 125 ml is half a cup?
It depends on what measurement you use but it is half a cup in the u.s.. in japan 100ml is half a cup.
Can I replace the filling with frosting?
Sure!
Why are your eggs so orange?
I use iodine eggs. You can search iodine eggs or yodoran.
I don’t know where to get mascarpone cheese…can we use cream cheese instead?
Tastes different, but you can!