Saint Joseph's Day Zeppole

By zircon50

Ingredients

• Pastry:
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs
• Filling:
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 tablespoon dark rum
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped
• Confectioners' sugar for dusting
• Maraschino cherries

Details

Servings 12
Adapted from mangiabenepasta.com

Preparation

Step 1

To make the pastry:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt.
Bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
With a wooden spoon, beat in flour all at once.
Return to low heat.
Continue beating until mixture forms a ball and leaves side of pan.
Remove from heat.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating hard after each addition until smooth.
Continue beating until dough is satiny and breaks in strands.
Allow the mixture to cool.
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a large star tip.
For each pastry, pipe a 2-1/2 -inch spiral with a raised outer wall on the baking sheet.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
Remove and allow to cool before filling.

To make the filling:
Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.
In a bowl, whisk together milk and egg yolks
Whisk milk mixture into sugar mixture.
Place the saucepan over medium heat.
Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly.
Boil for 1 minute; remove from heat.
Stir in rum, orange zest, and vanilla.
Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl.
Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes and then refrigerate until cold.
Fold in the whipped cream.

To assemble the zeppole:
Cut the pastries in half horizontally.
Transfer the filling mixture to a pastry bag with a star tip.
Pipe some of the filling onto the cut side of the bottom half of each pastry.
Place the top half of the pastry on the filling.
Pipe a small amount of the filling into the hole in the center of each pastry.
Place a maraschino cherry in the middle.
Dust the pastries with confectioners' sugar.