Sfinge Italian Pastry
Ronald
For Palm Sunday and Easter this year I made my Easter Bread (one batch for Palm Sunday and one for Easter) and Chocolate Babka in addition to these sfinge. What special Easter recipes did you make this year?
Step 1: For the filling: at least three days before serving, mix drained ricotta, vanilla and sugar together. Move the mixture to a food processor (I used a small Kitchen Aid chopper) and mix until the filling is smooth and is the right consistency. Depending on the size of your food processor or chopper, you may need to mix in small batches.
Step 2: Fold in the mini chocolate chips, cover loosely and store at least overnight (better yet two nights) in the refrigerator. When ready to fill, transfer the filling to a gallon size Ziploc bag make a 1/2 inch cut on one corner of the Ziploc bag. Use as a pastry bag to fill the chocolate chip cookie cups.
Step 3: For the dough: Mix the flour, salt and baking soda in medium bowl; set aside. In a large saucepan or small stock pot, heat the water, butter and lard. Let the mixture come to a boil and then remove the pot from the heat. Add all the flour mixture at once and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Return the pot to a medium to high heat for about 5 minutes while still mixing continuously; this will dry out the mixture and the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the dough from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the dough to combine before repeating with the remaining eggs.
Place water, sugar, salt and butter into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. Place the batter over medium heat and keep stirring until the batter pulls away from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool briefly, then add the baking powder and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions so that the eggs are well incorporated. Cover the batter with a cloth and allow it to rest for hour.
To make the ricotta filling, place the ricotta in a mixing bowl along with the sugar, the vanilla and optional orange zest. Beat well until smooth, then fold in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To fill the sfinge with the ricotta filling: Place the ricotta cream into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. Press gently into the side of the sfinge and pipe the ricotta cream into the center which will be hollow.
St Joseph pastries, also known as Zeppole di San Giuseppe, are traditional Italian pastries that are enjoyed every year on March 19th to celebrate the Feast of San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph). They are a deliciously light Italian cream filled pastry that are either fried or baked.
This recipe is for zeppole al forno, or oven baked zeppole. The texture of the pastry is very similar to a light, airy doughnut, with crema pasticcera (Italian pastry cream), a dusting of powdered sugar, and a cherry on top. And since this is an Italian treat, you know it's going to be good!
St Joseph pastries are Italian cream puffs. There are actually many different names for zeppole: Bign di San Giuseppe, St. Joseph's Day cake, sfinge pastry, zeppole fritte (fried), and zeppole al forno (baked). Depending on the region of Italy, they're not only called different names, but may also be made in different shapes and with varying fillings (including jelly, butter and honey, or cannoli-style cream).
The story says that back in the Middle Ages, St. Joseph saved Sicily from a famine, and in return the people prepared a feast for him, including candles, wine, and many baked goods (including zeppole!). It is celebrated every year during Lent (a period of abstinence), so the foods that are prepared are typically meatless. In Italy, it is also the celebration of Father's Day.
To make St Joseph pastry, a choux pastry dough is used. Choux pastry, or pte choux, aka puff pastry, is used for many pastries. It has only 4 or 5 ingredients, no raising agent, and depends on the high moisture content to steam and rise the dough. The word choux translates to cabbage (the shape of the pastry when it's piped look like small cabbages) and pte means paste (because the dough is quite wet).
It may not be made in the usual way you're used to making a dough, but it's actually really easy and all you'll need are a pot and a wooden spoon! And the cream filling is a crema pasticcera - which you've tasted many times in cream puffs, eclairs, doughnuts, and tarts - and is also made in just a few minutes on the stove.
The one piece of equipment that you may or may not have in your kitchen is a piping bag and tips. But that's okay! While a star-shaped tip is needed to achieve the beautiful swirled design of the pastry and cream, you can always use a ziploc bag with a small piece of the corner cut off to achieve a similar result.
Increase the heat on the stove to low-medium and add the egg mixture and lemon zest to the milk, whisking continuously. After a few minutes, the crema pasticcera will thicken up to a thick custard-like consistency.
Remove from heat, place in a bowl, and let cool on the counter for a few minutes. Once the bowl is cool enough to handle, cover it with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic touches the cream. This will prevent it from forming a crust. Place in the refrigerator to cool further.
In a pot over medium heat, bring butter, sugar, and water to a rolling boil. Next, add all of the flour at once, and vigorously stir until it forms a ball. Keep the heat on the stove for the first minute or so while stirring the flour in, as this will help develop the gluten in the pastry. Once the flour is mixed in, remove the pot from the heat.
Place pastry dough in a piping bag (or pastry bag) with a star tip (or a ziploc bag with a small piece of corner cut off). Pipe dough into circles measuring about 4 inches in diameter, working from the inside out, then make a second layer on top of the first, but leave a hole in the center of the second layer (this is where the pastry cream will be added later).
Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough turns a light golden brown. When lightly pressed with a finger, the zeppole will have slightly spongy feel, like a doughnut, but should be slightly firm on the outside. Let cool on the counter.
Once the zeppole have cooled, remove the crema pasticcera from the fridge and place in a piping bag with a star tip (or a ziploc bag with a small piece of corner cut off). Pipe pastry cream into the center of each zeppole and continue around, making a circle of cream, then back to the middle for a tall center. Make sure to leave a few inches between each one, as they will puff up a bit while baking.
The Feast of San Giuseppe started in the south, in Sicily, Apulia and,Abruzzo. March 19, St Joseph's Day is traditionally celebrated with alarge feast. Since it is during Lent the feast usually means the food ismeatless. The special sweets called zeppole di San Giuseppe, sfinge diSan Giuseppe, fritelle, sfinci, Italian zeppole, or bigne di SanGuiseppe are always present. Sometimes they are filled with sweetenedricotta or pastry cream.
From Debbie Waugh: Mamma's recipe
My greatgrandmother, Mamma, had a brother named Sal. He had a son who had adaughter. That is Debbie. We are so distantly related that I'm not evensure what we are, I think we are 4th cousins.
Anyway, through themagic of Facebook my mom and Debbie found one another and stayed incontact with each other until my mom passed away.
When I was akid Mamma always made sfinges on Christmas Eve, Easter Sunday, and TheFeast of Saint Joseph. That was it, we seldom got them any other time ofthe year, no matter how much we pleaded and begged. I really loved sfingesbut not a one of us had enough sense to write down Mamma's recipe beforeshe passed away.
Not writing the recipe down wasn't so bad because grandma made themas well and she used almost the same recipe Mamma used. My mom did write grandma's recipe down.
One of the things to consider is that back in Italy 100 plus years agothere was no Karo corn syrup. In all likelihood just sugar and cinnamonwere used but it is also possible that honey was used.
WhenItalian immigrants migrated to America they weren't wealthy people. Karosyrup would have been a viable alternative to honey, if it was used,and a lot more affordable.
If you do a goggle search on sfingeyou are going to get a lot of hits for zeppole as well. Many of thezeppole recipes are simply pate a choux and not at all like sfinge. Notthat there is anything wrong with that, I love pate a choux, but pate achoux is very different from sfinge or zeppole. Sfinge are a batter verysimilar to fritter batter.
While I did commit to making theserecipes as they are, I won't eat Karo corn syrup. If I could find a goodorganic corn syrup, maybe. Instead I used honey.
While I was making these I remembered that, both, mamma and grandma used a pot to deep-fry on the stove top. What reminded me was that after I dropped the first one in the batter stuck to the holes in the fryer basket, and I thought to myself, that's why they did these on the range-top.
So if you use a deep fryer be aware that you will have to use a metal spatula to release them from the bottom of the fryer basket. Be careful and do it slowly so you don't splash hot oil all over yourself.
Many dessert food names, like Gelato, Panna Cotta, Biscotti, Torrone, Cannoli, Cappuccino, Tiramisu, are said the same way in English as they are by Southern Italians in America. There are often mispronunciations of the proper Italian words, but Italian Americans and non-Italians pronounce them the same way. For example, Italian Americans and non-Italian Americans pronounce mascarpone as mas-car-pohn when they should say mass-car-po-nay, but that is niggling the details.
However, when we venture across Italy, pastries and desserts may have different names and are sometimes pronounced differently depending upon the region. As most of the Italians that immigrated to America are from the south, Southern Italian pastry names have become part of the Italian American language.
c80f0f1006