Recipe: Zeppole in Honor of St. Joseph's Day

Buona Festa di San Giuseppe (Happy Feast of St. Joseph)!

St. Joseph's Day is celebrated on March 19th, and my family is excited to celebrate.

What is this day all about? It is a Catholic feast day commemorating the life of St. Joseph. Some consider him to be the patron saint of Italy—part of this celebration includes food. Specific ones are eaten on this day to keep away il malocchio/maloik (the evil eye).

I need to clarify why this is such an important day in the Italian-American community. In many families, children were often named after Roman-Catholic saints. In order to continue paying respects toward this saint, many children are named after St. Joseph. He is the saint that protects Italy, as well all Italian and Italian-American people.

I consulted Ma (the leading authority on such matters) and was told “that there is always someone in the family named after St. Joseph—and on this day you went to see them, wore red-colored clothing, ate zeppole and wished them a happy name day."

Since I was a child, this was the tradition that my family followed. Yes, it is the fear of the maloik that has kept me doing this for so many years. My children also have this fear—much to my husband’s dismay.

We were lucky because my grandmother’s name was Josephine. Her Italian name was Giuseppina, but everyone called her Josephine or Jo.

We would make the pilgrimage to Nana's house every March 19th to wish her a “Happy St. Joseph’s Day and Happy Name Day."

Now my Nana was a hot ticket; everyone who knew her just loved her. Please do not think of a demure white-haired lady who was soften spoken—oh it was quite the opposite.

She was a typical Italian grandmother. She always wore an apron and had a tube of pink lipstick in her apron pocket. Even in her 90's she was still wearing her pink lipstick.

She was feisty, funny, told jokes and would whack you with a wooden spoon if you got out of line. If you went to her house, you had to eat something whether you were hungry or not. It was futile to refuse food—my husband learned this really quickly.

There were aspects to this holiday that, if done properly, it would ensure that the maloik would keep away. You paid your respects to the person named after this saint in your family, wore red-colored clothing (it is tradition) and ate Zeppole di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's Day cream puffs).

So what is a zeppole? Zeppole (pronounced ZAY-poe-la) is an Italian-style cream puff. Zeppole can be baked or fried, then filled with cream. The filling can be traditional custard or a cannoli-like (ricotta) filling. It is garnished with a sweetened cherry and dusted with powdered sugar.

The shape of the zeppole is important as well. St. Joseph was a carpenter and used many tools. The zeppole is round and fashioned like a carpenter’s tool.

It is the perfect food—sinfully delicious. 

The bakeries in Rhode Island could not keep the zeppole on the shelves. The lines in the bakeries started to form in the morning and they did not die down until it was time to close. You could get zeppole starting around the beginning of March. The bakeries would stop making them once St. Joseph’s day was over.

Since moving to Pittsburgh/Peters, I have not been able to find a bakery that makes zeppole. I have learned through the years how to make these tasty treats.

Here is my recipe for the shells; it came from my mother-in-law. It hails from the Betty Crocker cookbook.

I fill my zeppole with chilled vanilla pudding mixed with milk (you could also fill it with a cannoli filling). Top it with a maraschino cherry and dust it with powdered sugar.

Buon Appetito!

Zeppole/Cream Puffs

Ingredients: 

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

4 eggs

Directions:

Heat oven to 400ºF. In 2 1/2-quart saucepan, heat water and butter to rolling boil. Stir in flour; reduce heat to low. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Beat in eggs, all at once; continue beating until smooth.

On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by slightly less than 1/4 cupfuls about 3 inches apart. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool away from draft, about 30 minutes.

Editor's Note: This post is especially meaningful to me—my grandfather, Joseph. A Bosco, passed away last April and today we're celebrating in his honor. Are you celebrating St. Joseph's Day/honoring a Joseph in your family?