St Joseph's Zeppole with Vanilla Cream and Cherries
Inspired by techniques from King Arthur Baking.
Baked choux rosettes filled with lemon-scented vanilla pastry cream and topped with amarena cherries.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Make the cream. Heat the milk until small bubbles appear at the edge. Whisk the sugar and cornflour in a bowl, then whisk in the yolks and lemon zest until pale. Whisk in half the hot milk, pour it all back into the pan and whisk over medium heat until thick and bubbling in the middle; keep whisking for 1 min more (about 85 °C). Off the heat whisk in the vanilla and butter, sieve into a bowl, press cling film onto the surface and chill for at least 2 h.
- 2
Heat the oven. Heat the oven to 200 °C (180 °C fan).
- 3
Cook the choux. Bring the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt to the boil in the second pan. Off the heat add the flour in one go and beat until smooth, then stir over medium heat for 2 min until a thin film forms on the base.
- 4
Add the eggs. Beat the paste in the mixer bowl for 2 min to cool it. Add the eggs in four goes, beating well each time, until the paste is shiny and drops from the paddle in a thick V.
- 5
Pipe. Using the 1.5 cm nozzle, pipe 12 rosettes of about 7 cm onto the trays, two coils each with a little hollow in the middle, leaving 4 cm between them.
- 6
Bake. Bake for 20 min, then turn the oven down to 180 °C (160 °C fan) and bake 12-15 min more, until deep golden, crisp and light, with no damp patches in the ridges. Pierce the side of each to let out steam and cool on the rack.
- 7
Fill and top. Whisk the cold cream until smooth, spoon it into the second piping bag and pipe a generous swirl into the centre of each zeppola. Top each with a cherry and serve within 2 h.
Storage
Unfilled choux keeps in an airtight tin for 1 day (re-crisp at 180 °C for 5 min). Filled zeppole are best within 2 h; keep in the fridge.
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- 2 bowls and whisk
- sieve
- cling film
- second medium saucepan
- wooden spoon
- stand mixer with paddle (or hand mixer)
- 2 piping bags, one with a 1.5 cm open star nozzle and one with a 1 cm star nozzle
- 2 baking trays lined with baking paper
- wire rack
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 265 kcal |
| Protein | 6.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 26.2 g |
| of which sugars | 13.8 g |
| of which free sugars | 10.6 g |
| Fat | 14.9 g |
| of which saturates | 8.3 g |
| Fibre | 0.4 g |
| Salt | 0.37 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
2.4 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
