Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Ingredients

• For the zeppole or choux pastry (makes about 20-30 zeppole):
• 500 ml water
• 250 g butter
• 300 g all-purpose flour
• A pinch of salt
• 8 whole eggs
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  For the pastry cream:
• 1 liter whole milk
• 8 egg yolks
• 300 g sugar
• 85 g cornstarch
• 1 vanilla bean
• Cinnamon to taste
• 
  
• For decoration:
• Maraschino cherries
• Cinnamon
• Powdered sugar

Method

Make the zeppole or choux pastry:

• In a saucepan, combine water, salt, and butter (cut into small cubes).
• Once the butter is melted, add all the sifted flour at once. 
• Stir quickly with a wooden spoon, and once a solid mass has formed and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, continue to cook until you hear a sizzling sound.
• Remove from heat and let the dough cool.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing the dough in a stand mixer: once the dough has fully absorbed one egg, add the next.
• Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a star tip.
• To make the zeppole, pipe a 7 cm diameter ring, making one or two circles.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C (ventilated mode).
• Bake the zeppole in the lower part of the oven for 15 minutes.
• Then, reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 20-25 minutes.
• After this time, reduce the temperature to 160°C, remove the zeppole from the oven, poke the bottom with a toothpick, and return them to the oven, leaving the door slightly ajar (you can place a wooden spoon in the opening) for another 10 minutes.
• Remove from the oven.
  
  

Make the pastry cream and decorations:

• In a bowl, whisk together sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, and cinnamon.
• Sift in the cornstarch and mix
• Heat the milk, and once it’s hot, pour it over the egg mixture.
• Stir well and return the mixture to the pan, straining it through a sieve. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly.
• Once the cream thickens, remove it from the heat, transfer it to a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming.
• Once the cream has cooled, transfer it to a piping bag.
• Cut the zeppole in half and fill them with the cream.
• Decorate with a dollop of cream on top, a maraschino cherry, and dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon.