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Zeppole Made Easy, Recipes, Folklore ...

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Doughnuts for Saint Joseph's Day

Zeppole is no stranger to the United States. If you've been to a street festival in any Little Italy in America, you know zeppole, a kind of fried doughnut that is tossed in a bag with powdered sugar. In Sicily, zeppole are tiny and fluffy and rolled in granulated sugar (that's how I make mine). St. Joseph's Day is celebrated in many parts of Sicily with a solemn supper given in gratitude to the saint for granted favors.

St. Joseph's Day is on March 19, you must pull the ear of anyone you meet on this day named Giuseppe (Joseph) for good luck!

Contents at a Glance

Zeppole Made Easy
Struffala, The Finished Product
Struffoli, Struffala, Struffali and/or H...
More Zeppole Recipes
Judy Ferony by Design
Fryers For Zeppole

Christmas Fritters

This is a really easy recipe that was given to me by a lady who sold Zeppole at Italian Feasts and Street Fairs for many years. It is the easiest way to make this classic Italian treat. You may have a hard time finding Presto flour, just ask your local super market to order it.

1 cup of Ricotta cheese
2 small eggs
1 cup of Presto flour

Mix the three ingredients above and fry until golden, blot off oil and spinkle granulated sugar over them. Enjoy!

This is my first and oldest Squidoo Lens (made way before they had a recipe module); it was also a lens I made before I decided to make individual lenses that focused on some of the non-zeppole recipes on this page. I'm in the process of revamping this Lens. Thanks for visiting and I hope to roll out the new and improved Zeppole in a few days.

Struffala, The Finished Product

Now That's Sicilian!

Struffoli, Struffala, Struffali and/or Honey Balls

Some Say Tomato, Some Say ... The Other Fried Dough

These are the honey balls that are made around Christmas time in Italian Bakeries and neighborhoods where I live in the Bronx. This is my mother's recipe, as you can see its' well loved. Struffoli is the correct spelling, and this lens is gives a better idea of the origins and regional differences in their preparation.

Dough

2 1/2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup of Crico
1 tablespoon of sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of Stock Sweet Vermouth
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Honey Sauce
16 oz of honey
zest of 1 orange peel
juice of 1/2 an orange (depending on size)

Sift the dry ingredients together. Add zest and combine wet ingredients. Some melt the crisco, I cut it in. Knead the dough about 5 minutes (by hand). Make a long rope from the kneaded dough. Cut little marble size pieces (maybe a little bigger) and cover them with plastic wrap till your ready to fry them. To make the honey sauce, put the honey in a saucepan, add the juice of the orange and the zest on a low flame just enough to warm and infuse the orange's essential oils into the honey. Some strain this syrup (some don't), I do and zest another orange over a heap of coated struffala; right before serving.

I use vegetable oil but you can try other oils (oil combos ...) or Crisco (any shortening), heat the oil until it is hot enough to fry a marbles sized piece of dough to golden within a minute or less. We never used a thermometer but I'd say around 365°. Only put a few in at a time or the oil will foam up on you. When they are golden brown take them out of the oil and blot them on brown paper bag with a paper towel over them. I put them on a drying rack, for 30 minutes.

I like to take all the struffala and put them in a big mixing bowl, pour the honey mixture in and coat all the struffala. Then you can arrange them in a heap, and sprinkle non pareil all over them. Some also put more orange zest strings too.

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Enoy the ones you Love, because you never know how long you'll have them.

More Zeppole Recipes

Zeppole Recipe # 2
Yield: 20 servings

2 tb butter
pinch salt
1 c flour
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
vegetable oil for deep frying
1/2 c confectioners' sugar

Put butter and salt into a saucepan with 1 cup water. Boil until
butter dissolves. Off heat, dump in flour all at once and stir
rapidly to mix. Return pan to medium-high heat and cook, still
stirring rapidly, until mixture is smooth and begins to coat bottom
and sides of pan. Remove pan from heat and, one at a time, add eggs
and extra yolk, stirring briskly until each addition is absorbed.
Let mixture cool to room temperature. Put confectioners' sugar into
a brown paper bag. Heat deep-frying oil to 375F. Using 2 teaspoons,
drop in nuggets of dough about the size of a small walnut. Fry a
few at a time for 5-to-6 minutes each. As they cook, the zeppoli
will rise to the surface, turn over when their bottom halves are
golden brown, and finally rupture slightly and puff further as the
interior dough expands. Remove them from the oil when golden brown,
firm, and hollow inside. (Check one from the first batch, and if
the interior is at all soggy, cook the rest longer.) Drain zeppoli
briefly on paper towels, then toss in the bag with confectioners'
sugar. Serve at once.

Note: As made in Naples for the Feast of San Giuseppe, these crullers
are piped from a pastry bag into ring shapes. After being fried,
their centers are filled with pastry cream and cherry preserves.

Zeppole Recipe # 3

1/2 cup white wine,
2 1/2 cups water
Pinch salt
2 1/2 cups flour, sifted
Olive oil, for frying

3 teaspoons powdered cinnamon mixed with 1 cup sugar
Put wine and water in a pot. Bring to almost a boil. (It shouldn't come to a full boil.) Add the flour all at once and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. When the dough comes out of the pot in a single piece remove it from the heat. Place on lightly oiled marble or counter surface. Knead by pounding with a rolling pin. Do this for 10 minutes so as to make it smooth and homogeneous. Roll the dough into snakes about as thick as your little finger. Pull off small pieces of dough, rub the dough between your hands and pinch ends together to make small rings.
Heat the oil and fry the zeppole a few at a time. Prick balls with a skewer as they fry, so the dough will bubble out and they become crunchier and more golden. Drain them on paper towels. Dredge them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve hot or cold.

Judy Ferony by Design

To the beat of my own drum.

I was raised in the Morris Park area of the Bronx where my family lived and worked for over 100 years. They helped build a church (and school), owned Deli's, Bars & Liquor Stores; and were part of a great Italian, Irish American community. Nothing is constant but change; most of my family are gone, there are no jobs in the neighborhood, and the businesses and properties my family once owned are long gone. The Deli's gave given way to 24 hours stores and bodegas, and most of the Catholic Schools have closed. They sure left a lot of ghosts.

I went to trade school for printing in the shadow of the World Trade Center, we never called it that, I always called it The Twin Towers. Now the Manhattan School of Printing and the World Trade Center are both gone; the equipment I learnt photo-offset and silkscreening on are now obsolete; giving way to Photoshop and Digital Photography. So you roll with the punches. I love Photoshop (heck I'd marry it if I could lol); and I have a point & shoot Canon Digital, but love my plastic fantastic Holga that still uses film (remember that?).

I'm unemployed right now, and I guess I'm just trying to find my groove. I started with Squidoo in 2006; it was love at first site, and I can't believe how things took off. Squidoo is one of the only sites that has managed to hold my attention all those years, even when I wasn't actively authoring Lenses. Lately I've stepped-up my Squidoo efforts, and would love to be able to make a living out of it, as well as my other online ventures; we'll see, it's a work in progress.

I have a Squidoo Circle called "23 Squidoo" on Google Plus; if your a Lensmaster (and on Google+) please do let me know and I'll add you. Well enough of me already; let me know a little about you by leaving a comment on my Lensmaster Page. Have a Great Day.

Fryers For Zeppole

It's All In The Oil (Shhhh)!

The Right Tools for the Right Job, and Measure Twice Cut Once are two of my favorite sayings. If you are going to use a big pot of oil, please be CAREFUL.. Have a fire extinguisher, some salt and keep the children out of the kitchen when your frying something (this goes for outside frying too). Use a thermometer to make sure your oil isn't getting too hot; you should never let oil get so hot to the point of it smoking.

Baked Zeppole

I'm A Fry Girl Myself

This recipe isn't fried, like the custard filled zeppole you get at a bakery. This really seems like a Struffala Recipe (not mine though, I fry them too).

1 cup hot water
1/2 cup butter
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 tsp grated lemon peel

Lightly grease a baking sheet and preheat oven to 450°

Bring water, butter sugar and salt to boil in a medium saucepan. Add flour, all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a smooth ball (about 3 minutes) Remove from heat
Quickly beat in eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and glossy. Add orange and lemon peel and mix thoroughly.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2-in apart on the baking sheet.
Bake at 450° 15 minutes. Lower heat to 350°. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden in color.

Remove to rack and cool completely. Cut slit in side of each puff and fill with whipped cream, vanilla pudding or ricotta filling (below).

Ricotta Filling
3 cups ricotta cheese (about 1.5lbs)
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tsbp grated orange peel
2 Tbsp grated lemon peel

Combine all ingredients and beat with electric mixer about 10 minutes. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

Anginette Cookie Recipes

My Family Recipe

2 sticks unsalted butter
4 tsp. baking powder
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
10 eggs
7 cups flour

Form cookies into traditional Italian shapes like spirals,
twists and S shapes. Preheat Oven to 325* bake for 10-15
minutes orb until golden on the bottom. Make a glace' with
milk and confectioners sugar. Sprinkle with little rainbow balls.

Anginettie Cookies

5 cups of all-purpose flour
2 extra-large eggs
1 cup of whole milk, heated to 110* (plus extra if needed)
1 ounce lemon extract
5 teaspoons of baking powder
1 cup of granulated sugar 3 cups of shortening, diced
4 cups of confectioners sugar
1 cup of multi-colored nonpareils

Preheat the oven to 350*. Mix the flour, eggs, milk, lemon extract, baking powder, and granulated sugar until incorporated in a large mixing bowl. Add the shortening, one piece at a time, until a dough forms. Add a little milk if the dough is too dry, add flour if the dough is too sticky and knead until smooth for about 5 minutes. Cut the dough into golf ball size pieces, roll each piece into a log. Make twists, "S" shapes and/or spirals. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper that has had some butter or cooking spray on it. Cookies should be 2 inches apart, bake for about 15 minutes.

Lidia's Italy In America

Lidia's Italy in America

by: Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, Tanya Bastianich Manuali

Amazon Price: $16.83 (as of 02/13/2012)

Pizzelle, Rossettes & Cannoli Recipes

Basic Pizzelles

3 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
1 Tbl. vanilla or anise
1/2 cup margarine, melted (do not use oil)
2 tsp. baking powder

Rosette Recipe

2 large eggs
2 tsp. sugar
1 cup of milk
1 Tbs. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Pizzelle Irons & Presses on Amazon

Chef's Choice Gourmet Pizzelle Mix

Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 02/13/2012)

Mario Batali's Zeppole Recipe

Originally Broadcasted on The Chew

Serves: 8-10
Prep Time: over 120 minutes
Total Time: 10 hours

The Chew broadcasted a really recipe on Little Christmas and it looked goooood! I heard Mario is/was a Deadhead too (awesome). Has anyone been to his latest venture Eataly near the Flat Iron building; it's awesome, and if you can't find it there, your in trouble (although I rather go see my friends in Little Italy, they keep it real).

Printable Version

It's An Italian Thing!

I love Italian Food & Desserts, I'm Italian American; my family is from Sicily and Naples, and I'm a 3rd generation Italian American. My mother was a great cook and she baked a few of the delights mentioned on this page during the holidays; she passed away and this lens is my way of keeping her memory alive through her recipe/s. We must never forget where we came from and the hardships our families made to get here.

Did you grow up Italian?

Zeppole Made Easy, Recipes, Folklore ...

Doughnuts for Saint Joseph's Day

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance