Zeppole

How to Cook Zeppole

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1. Make the pastry cream: heat the milk with the vanilla and lemon zest to a bare simmer. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflour to a paste, pour the hot milk in while whisking, return to the pan, and cook until it thickens and boils for a full minute. Cover the surface and chill.

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2. For the choux, bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a rolling boil.

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3. Tip in all the flour at once and beat over the heat for 2 minutes until the paste comes away cleanly from the pan.

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4. Cool 3 minutes, then beat in the eggs one at a time until the paste falls from the spoon in a reluctant V.

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5. Pipe 8 cm rings onto squares of baking paper using a large star nozzle.

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6. Heat the oil to 170°C / 340°F. Lower the zeppole in on their paper, which releases after a few seconds and can be lifted out.

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7. Fry 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until deep golden and hollow-sounding. Drain on a rack.

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8. Cool completely, then split each horizontally or pipe the cream into the centre.

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9. Dust with icing sugar and press an amarena cherry into the top of each.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Things to Watch For

1. A thermometer matters here. Below 165°C / 330°F they soak up oil; above 180°C / 355°F they brown before the middle sets.
2. The paper-square trick means you never have to handle a piped ring.
3. Fill them within a couple of hours of frying, and eat them the same day.

To Go With It

Strong espresso · A glass of Marsala · Nothing else — they are very rich

Storing Leftovers

Unfilled shells keep 1 day in a tin. Once filled, refrigerate and eat within 8 hours.

Quick Answers

Zeppole Nutrition Facts

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (how much frying oil the food takes up cannot be known from the recipe). Why some recipes have none.