Zeppole Di San Guiseppe

• Preheat your oven to 180 degree Celsius, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 

Crème Pâtissière
1- When your water reaches 110 degrees Fahrenheit or 40.5 degrees Celsius add the yeast and sprinkle 1 - 1  1/2 teaspoon of sugar (from the measured 50 grams of sugar). Cover the bowl and leave it for 5 minutes or till the mixture gets foamy.

2- Combine flour, remaining sugar, salt, yeast mixture, water, milk, egg and butter in a large mixer bowl. Attach dough hook and turn machine to low speed. Beat until well mixed (for about 1 minute). Next, switch to medium speed and mix until dough is smooth and elastic (for about 10 minutes, continue kneading while gradually adding just enough extra flour for dough to lose its stickiness). If dough is dry and crumbly, add 1 tablespoon of warm water at a time, until dough is smooth and elastic.

3- you have mixed and kneaded the dough, shape it into a ball and place in to a large bowl and cover with a cling film or damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size (for about 45 - 60 minutes ).

Prepare the filling :
1- Boil the potatoes with 1 Teaspoon of salt until tender.
2- Peel off the skin, mash the potatoes and set aside.
3- Heat oil in a wok/saucepan and add cumin seeds and ginger garlic paste. Fry for 1 minute.
4- Add the chopped onion, chopped curry leaves and chopped githeyo mirus. Cook until the onion goes translucent.
5- Add canned tuna, red chili powder, black pepper powder, turmeric powder and salt. Stir until well combined.
6- Then add mashed potato to the sauce pan mix well all together & let it cook for about further 2 minutes.

Zeppole Dough
1- Place the water, butter, salt and sugar in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter has melted and the water just begins to boil.

2- Take the pan off from the heat.

3- Add the flour.

4- Beat everything together with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together in a dough and comes away from the sides of the pan. (2-3 minutes)

5- Transfer the dough into the bowl of an electric stand mixer. I prefer to use an electric mixer since it requires quite a bit of muscle power to beat in the eggs.

6- Using the flat paddle attachment, beat the mixture for a few seconds.

7- Add one egg and beat until the egg is fully incorporated. (Just make sure to add a little at a time, rather than a whole egg at once.

8- Place the dough in large piping bag fitted with a large star tip or a round tip, then start piping out little nests about 2-1/2 inches wide and about 3 levels high (You can draw circles on the back of the parchment paper as a guide to pipe the nests). Make sure to leave enough space between the pastries as they’ll double in size in the oven.

9- Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly brown. Don’t open the oven during the first 25 minutes. Past 25 minutes open the oven door for a few inches and let zeppole bake for another 5-10 minutes this way.

Filling and Decoration

Let pastries cool. Cut each in half.Fill a pastry bag with the prepared pastry cream.
Pipe pastry cream on the bottom half, cover with top and pipe another star or swirl of a pastry cream on the top.
I topped my zeppoles with a Lindt dark chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries.

 

Notes : to check the right consistency of your zeppole dough, 

The finger test – Drag your finger along the surface of the choux pastry dough to create a trough. The sides of this trough should stay upright and not collapse into the dough. If they do, it’s because the dough is too runny. If the sides of the trough stay up, then it’s the right consistency.

 

Bon Appetite