Baked Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Ingredients

• Vanilla pastry cream

  350 g whole milk

  pasteurized

• 60 g egg yolks

  shell-free weight, approximately 3 large yolks

• 70 g granulated sugar

  all for the custard

• 30 g cornstarch

  pure cornstarch, not cornmeal

• 4 g vanilla extract

  added after cooking

• Choux rings

  200 g water

  for the panade

• 75 g unsalted butter

  cubed

• 2 g fine salt

  for the panade

• 125 g all-purpose flour

  plain, not self-raising

• 180 g whole eggs

  beaten shell-free weight; use 150 g first and add up to 30 g more only as needed for a thick V; record any unused portion

• Finish

  40 g pitted dark cherries in syrup

  8 small cherries, about 5 g each, weighed after draining; no extra syrup poured over

• 12 g icing sugar

  sifted evenly over 8 filled pastries, about 1.5 g each

Directions

1. Mix the yolks; temper with hot milk

   Pour 350 g whole milk into a saucepan and heat until steaming with tiny edge bubbles. In a separate bowl whisk 60 g egg yolks with 70 g sugar until blended. Add all 30 g cornstarch and whisk to a smooth paste. Whisk a small stream of the hot milk into the yolk mixture, then gradually whisk in the rest. Pour everything back into the saucepan. Keep utensils that touched raw eggs separate from serving tools, and do not taste the raw mixture.

2. Cook the vanilla cream and chill it thoroughly

   Heat the milk-and-yolk mixture over medium-low heat, whisking continuously into the corners. Once it thickens and slow bubbles break through, keep whisking at a gentle bubble for 60 seconds. The mixture must reach at least 71°C/160°F; this is cooked pastry cream, not a raw-egg filling. Remove from the heat and stir in all 4 g vanilla extract. Scrape into a clean shallow heatproof dish and press food-safe wrap against the surface. Cool the dish over an ice-water bath for about 15 minutes without letting water enter, then refrigerate at 4°C/40°F or below for at least 2 hours, until fully cold and firm. Refrigerate promptly and within 2 hours of cooking, or 1 hour above 32°C/90°F.

3. Cook the choux panade and let steam escape

   Heat the oven to 200°C/390°F conventional. Line a large tray with at least 44 x 26 cm usable space with parchment; mark eight 7 cm circles on its underside, leaving at least 4 cm between circles. In a clean saucepan combine all 200 g water, 75 g butter and 2 g salt. Heat gently until the butter melts, then bring just to a boil. Add all 125 g flour at once. Stir vigorously over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, until the dough comes together and a thin film appears on the pan base. Transfer to a bowl, spread slightly and stir occasionally for 8–10 minutes, until warm rather than hot; it should no longer steam strongly before eggs are added.

4. Add eggs to a thick V and pipe eight rings

   Weigh 180 g beaten whole egg. Add 150 g to the warm panade in three 50 g additions, beating well after each until the mixture comes back together. Add the remaining egg a teaspoon at a time only if needed. Stop when a lifted spatula leaves a thick, smooth V of dough hanging from its edge and a piped ridge holds its shape; it must not pour like batter. You may not need all 180 g. Record any unused egg; do not force it in or try to fix runny dough with raw flour. Transfer to a bag with a 14 mm open-star nozzle. Divide the dough evenly across the eight marked circles: pipe one ring, then another directly on top, leaving an open center about 2.5 cm wide. Use all the finished dough across the eight rings.

5. Bake until firm, vent, dry and cool

   Bake the rings on the middle shelf at 200°C/390°F conventional for 15 minutes. Without opening the door, lower the setting to 180°C/355°F and continue for about 20–25 minutes, until well risen, deeply golden and firm. Keep the door closed for at least the first 30 minutes of baking. Once the shells are rigid, briefly remove the tray and pierce a small vent low on each ring with a clean skewer. Return to the 180°C oven for 5–8 minutes to dry the interiors; the pastry walls should be dry rather than wet and doughy. Times vary by oven and ring thickness, so extend the drying if needed. Move to a rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes. Never put custard into warm shells.

6. Fill, crown with cherries and serve

   When both components are cold, gently stir the pastry cream just enough to make it pipeable. Split each cooled ring horizontally with a serrated knife. Pipe about two thirds of the total cream evenly into the eight lower halves, replace their pastry lids, then pipe the remaining third into a small rosette on each top. Use all the cream. Place one of the eight drained cherries on each rosette, sharing the measured 40 g across the batch without adding syrup. Sift all 12 g icing sugar over the eight pastries. Serve promptly for the best contrast between shell and cream. Keep filled pastries refrigerated at 4°C/40°F or below and use within 24 hours for quality. Keep chilled cream for no more than 2 days. Do not leave cream or filled pastries unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 32°C/90°F.