Zeppole di San Giuseppe are a traditional Italian dessert, prepared on the occasion of St Joseph’s Day, which is celebrated on 19 March. This day also coincides with Father’s Day in Italy, making the zeppole a symbolic dessert to celebrate fathers, and also a strong symbolic meaning: St Joseph is revered as the protector of the family and workers, and the preparation of this dessert becomes a moment of sharing and celebrating tradition, combining faith, history and culinary art.
There are two main variants:
Fried Zeppole:
made with choux pastry, these are fried until golden and crispy on the outside, while keeping a soft inside.
Baked Zeppole: a lighter version, in which the choux pastry is baked in the oven.
In both cases, the ingredients are always the same: flour, eggs, sugar, butter, water or milk, and sour cherries. After baking, zeppole are usually filled with custard and decorated with black cherries in syrup and a sprinkling of icing sugar.
In some regional variants, the custard is replaced or accompanied by whipped cream, chantilly cream or zabajone, but the base remains the same: a delicious soft and fragrant dough, which blends perfectly with the sweetness of the cream and the contrast of the cherries or sour cherries.
Origin and History
Zeppole have ancient and Christian-related origins, characteristic of the Neapolitan tradition. They are believed to have been created in honour of St Joseph, the putative father of Jesus. Legend has it that St Joseph together with Mary, while fleeing from Herod to Egypt, started selling pancakes to support his family.
But it would seem that zeppole were actually created in the 18th century by the nuns of the convent of San Gregorio Armeno in Naples
.
The most recognised version, with puff pastry garnished on top with custard and amarena cherries, was brought in 1840 by the pastry chef Pintauro in Via Toledo in Naples, who claimed to have taken inspiration from a Barletta tradition. Pintauro transformed and enriched the ancient Neapolitan zeppole, simple Neapolitan sweet fritters made of flavoured flour dough, fried and sugar-coated, whose first written recipe dates back to the appendix in Neapolitan dialect of Ippolito Cavalcanti’s 1837 recipe book.
The Zeppola di San Giuseppe in Itri is a small pancake made with flour, water and brewer’s yeast, leavened and fried in olive oil and then sprinkled with sugar or honey. A more elaborate variant is with eggs and milk added to the dough. It is one of the country’s typical dishes prepared on the occasion of St Joseph’s Fires.
In the rest of Italy, St Joseph’s zeppole have different shapes and sizes, and in some cases different ingredients, fillings or enrichments
St Joseph’s Day is also linked to the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and zeppole may have roots in pagan rites of purification and rebirth.
In short, St Joseph’s zeppole are not only a dessert, but also a way to celebrate and keep alive traditions that are part of Italian culture. Their preparation, in fact, also represents a gesture of affection and family tradition.