St Joseph's Day Treats

Today is Saint Joseph's Day a day when sweets abound. Most countries celebrate the day with meals alongwith lush pastries. In Italy ,March 19th is considered Father's Day as well. For the Southern Italians it's a time to enjoy zeppoli and sfingi, cream filled pastries that are just sinfully delicious.

The zeppolis made for this holy day are different than th e ones you get at street fairs. They may have th e same dough however the St Joseph's Day ones are filled with ricotta filling. This is usally reserved for the crunchy tubes of fried dough called cannoli. It's a mix of ricotta cheese, powdered sugar ,a dash of orange and chocolate chips. It makes for a very smooth, almost icing like pudding that can be scooped or piped into the zeppoli shells. These resemble cream puffs as opposed to the usall pillow puffs. Sfinge is the same except that the filling has vanilla as opposed to citrus in the recipe

If you're thinking of making these you can vary the cream. Instead of using ricotta you can try a homemade pudding recipe that is a bit thicker and creamier than th e ricotta one. It works well with almost a yolk based custard. Also you can vary the shell. by using a lighter , crispier cream puff recipe. These won't get as soggy as the regular pastry ones that tend to absorb the filling's moisture. Most of the St Joseph's Day pastries have cherries on top. You can customize your own with a lemon or orange zest or just powdered sugar.

St. Joseph's Day is a time for celebration and honor. Celebrate the day with family and these great pastries. They are lush and delicious, perfect for his holiday