Zeppoli for San Gusepp

I am sharing the recipe for Zeppoli I made last year for St Joseph’s day so that you can organize your ingredients in time.

And for the Zeppoli you will need:

1 cup flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Few drops vanilla extract
120g butter
Pinch of salt
1 cup water
4 eggs
Oil for frying
Honey to drizzle
Zest of two oranges

In a saucepan combine the butter, salt, sugar and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil.. Add the vanilla and cinnamon. Take pan off the heat and stir in the flour. Return pan to the heat and stir continuously until mixture forms a ball, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the flour mixture to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed add the eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Beat until smooth. I like to leave the batter to rest covered in the fridge.

Pour oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat.

Using a small ice-cream scoop or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot oil, frying in batches.

Today I am using a piping bag with a small plain nozzle and I simply squeeze the bag and ‘slice’ off the batter as it pours down the nozzle. You can achieve very small sized zeppoli with this method and it is very fast.

Turn the Zeppoli once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed up, about 5 minutes. Arrange on a platter.

Drain on paper towels. drizzle with honey and scatter the orange zest on top.

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If you would like to make a simple ricotta filling for the zeppoli,  simply mash 250g of ricotta with a fork or for a smoother finish beat it with an electric whisk , add a tablespoon of stevia or honey to every 250g of ricotta and either leave as it is or add some finely chopped dark chocolate, chopped nuts and candied peel to the mixture.