Zeppole di San Giuseppe in a chocolate version, with cocoa choux pastry and chocolate custard.
MAKES 10-12 Zeppole
For the cocoa choux pastry:
- 80 gr (1/3 cup) of butter
- 250 ml (1 cup) of water
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp of sugar
- 130 gr (1 cup) of 00 flour
- 20 gr (1/4 cup) of bitter cocoa
- 4 eggs
For the custard with chocolate:
- 4 yolks
- 100 gr (8 tbsp) of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 50 gr (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) of cornstarch
- 500 ml (2 cups) of milk
- 100 gr (1 cup) of milk chocolate
To decorate:
- black cherries in syrup
- Icing sugar to taste
DIRECTIONS:
For the choux pastry
In a saucepan over medium heat put the butter in pieces, water, salt and sugar, as soon as it comes to a boil add all at once the flour and cocoa that we have previously mixed together.Stir immediately with a wooden spoon, at first a patina will form on the walls of the saucepan and we will hear a sizzle then the dough will join until it forms a ball, at this point we remove it from the heat and transfer it to a bowl, spread it with a spoon and let it cool.
Then we incorporate the eggs, one at a time with an electric whisk and only when it is well amalgamated will add the other and so on.
Pour the mixture into a pastry bag with a large star nozzle and on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper form the doughnuts with a diameter of 1.97-2.36 inches for each doughnut make two overlapping turns of choux pastry.
Bake the zeppole in a preheated oven at 390 F for 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 330 F and bake for a further 25 minutes.
Finally, turn off the oven, open the door slightly and leave the zeppole for 10 minutes. At this point we take them out and let them cool completely.
For the custard with chocolate
Heat the milk and in the meantime in a bowl pour the egg yolks with the sugar and mix with a hand whisk then add the vanilla and mix, finally sift the cornstarch and mix well until you get a smooth and uniform mixture.
At this point we add a little at a time the hot milk stirring very well each time, put everything back in the saucepan and let it thicken without ever stop stirring.
Turn off the flame, add the chopped chocolate and mix until completely melted.
Transfer the cream into a bowl and leave to cool completely, stirring from time to time so that it does not form a pellicle.
We put the cream now well cold in the sac a poche and stuff the zeppole, first inside then also on the surface.
Place a black cherry on top of each dollop of cream and add icing sugar to taste.
