My Mom gave me Desserts By The Yard for Christmas and I immediately made a note to try Sherry Yard's recipe for Zeppoli (also spelled zeppole). If you've ever been to a street festival in any Little Italy in the United States, you know this lovely treat-- a kind of fried doughnut that is tossed in a paper bag with powdered sugar. When Helen of Tartelette and Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody announced their event Time To Make The Doughtnuts I was thrilled to have an excuse to make a batch.
I used Sherry Yard's basic batter recipe and then divided it into three portions, flavoring one with lemon zest, one with orange zest, and one with chocolate and orange zest. When they were ready my daughters and I settled in to watch a chick flick, each of us with a bag of warm zeppole to munch on.
Zeppoli
adapted from Desserts By The Yard, by Sherry Yard
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
'2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups ricotta
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
3/4 - 1 cup confectioner's sugar
vegetable oil, for frying
about six brown paper lunch bags
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs and sugar. Add the ricotta and whisk until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla and nutmeg and combine well. Whisk in the flour and divide into three smaller bowls. Add the lemon zest to one, mixing well. Add 1 teaspoon of the orange zest to the second, mixing well. Add the last teaspoon of orange zest and the cocoa powder to the last bowl and mix well. Cover the three bowls and put them in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (you can leave them for up to 4 hours).
Before you start frying the zeppole, set out a baking sheet with a wire rack on top of it for draining. Open and turn down the tops of six brown paper bags.
In large heavy pot heat two inches of oil to 350 F. Carefully spoon tablespoonfuls of batter into the hot oil in batches. Start with the lemon batter, then the orange, and finish with the chocolate-orange. Cook the batches of zeppole for about 2 - 2 1/2 minutes, flipping them over every 30 seconds. Fish them out with a mesh skimmer and let them drain on the rack. Keep cooking the zeppole in batches until you have no batter left.
Divide the zeppole into the brown paper bags and then sprinkle about 1 1/2 tablespoons of confectioner's sugar into each bag. Close up the tops and give them a good shake to coat the zeppole with sugar. Eat warm.
That sounds like a great way to watch a movie in!! Is the name "zepolli" because they're meant to resemble onions? (sorry, my Italian is not great, or almost non-existent.) Would be a little too expensive for me to make, though, with the 2 cups of ricotta. I wonder if cinnamon sugar would be a great coating :)
Posted by: Manggy | February 03, 2008 at 07:56 AM
Your zeppole came beautiful, Ann! My mom bought them every year for St. Joesph's Day in March. Except they were filled with a thick, custardy cream, *sigh.* What a great submission!
Posted by: Susan from Food Blogga | February 03, 2008 at 09:14 AM
Hey in French speaking Europe we call that "croustillons" :)
It's known on each fair all over Europe.
Posted by: Isabelle | February 03, 2008 at 09:59 AM
Hey I think I've never had that before,
I have to find a place that sells it,
I can't fry things at home,
Ahh I wanna try it badly!
Posted by: Cindy | February 03, 2008 at 01:38 PM
Ooo, I've had these once before at a little Italian bakery here - I bought a small bag to share with my friends but we'd eaten them all just a few metres from the store so we had to go back to get more! How many would you say this makes, since I don't want to make TOO many, for the sake of my poor arteries :D
Posted by: Ellie | February 03, 2008 at 05:32 PM
Mmm..your entry does sound delicious & addictive!
Posted by: JEP | February 03, 2008 at 06:25 PM
oh my god!! they look sinfully delicious!! i shoul try making some me that's donut addict :-)
Posted by: dhanggit | February 04, 2008 at 05:09 AM
I have really been wanting to try this recipe! It turned out great for you!
Posted by: Deborah | February 04, 2008 at 05:29 PM
Humm, zeppole here are quite different from these, must be the regional thing again. Ours here in the Chisone valley of Piedmont are more like a filled pate choux ring.
Posted by: Pasticcera | February 05, 2008 at 05:58 AM
I have to agree with pasticcera . . . the zeppole I know are a ring of pate a choux filled with custard and sometimes fruit . . .
my mom used to make these little doughnut balls too but I can't for the life of me remember what they were called . . . the ones she made were dusted with sugar and had raisins in them . . . we always had them at Christmas time . . .
Posted by: roxx | February 06, 2008 at 08:52 PM
Manggy, I tried and tried to find the derivation of zeppole and failed. And I'm sure cinnamon sugar would be wonderful!
Susan, thanks! They seem to really vary by region!
Isabel, thanks for the additonal info!
Cindy, try a street fair on St. Joseph's day!
Ellie, well this recipe made more than we (3 of us) could eat, so I'd wait for company or cut the recipe down by at least half.
JEP, they were extremely addictive and I don't like to think about the calories we consumed!
dhanggit, you should definitely try these!
Deborah, if you do try it let me know how it goes!
Pasticcera, yes, they seem to be very regional. I think the style I made is more common in the south of Italy.
roxx, isn't interesting how dishes change with geography?
Posted by: Ann | February 08, 2008 at 07:07 AM
this sucks, i just made it exactly how you said and it sucks, they LOOK So much bette
Posted by: smokeablunt | February 08, 2008 at 12:57 PM
smokeablunt, interesting name! I'm sorry your attempt did not turn out well. We really liked this recipe!
Posted by: Ann | February 08, 2008 at 01:00 PM
I have this book too, and the zeppole recipe jumped out at me right away. I still haven't made it, but I hope to soon!
Posted by: Dana | February 15, 2008 at 01:33 PM
Oh yummm..
These look delicious..
That may have to be a book I pick up!
Posted by: Ryley | February 15, 2008 at 02:30 PM
They look great!
Thanks for participating.
Posted by: peabody | February 16, 2008 at 03:43 AM
These sound awesome. And I love the idea of putting them in a bag to eat them (never been to an Italian festival so would have no idea to do that).
Posted by: Mrs. L | February 17, 2008 at 05:09 PM
I like the idea of doughnuts with cocoa powder. These look lovely.
Posted by: Aparna | February 19, 2008 at 04:21 AM
There is a MAJOR Difference in baking powder and baking soda. PLEASE make sure you don't make these mistakes while writing recipes for the public to use.
Posted by: Tim | June 09, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Tim, thanks for catching that. It has been corrected.
Posted by: Ann | June 09, 2008 at 11:46 AM
I'll take a bag or two or three of those delicious looking doughnuts. Yummy!
Posted by: Chuck | June 20, 2008 at 12:47 PM
They look wonderful, my mouth is watering.
I've been debating whether or not to buy this book for a few months now, well now my mind's made up, I just have to have it :)
Posted by: George@CulinaryTravels | June 21, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Ive been searching for a crespelle recipe from Lawrence, MA". We use to buy them at the Feast of the Three Saints. My husband loved the once with the ANCHOVY in the middle...Me, I preferred them plain but sugar coated. There was always a loooooong line at the backery for this deep-fried desert. Then we'd walk along and meet old friends ...most were eating from their white bag of what we called Crispelli.
Posted by: Rose Romano | March 03, 2009 at 12:23 PM