Zeppole (Italian Doughnuts) - Easy Recipes for Family Time - Seeded At The Table (2024)

FAQs

What is zeppole dough made of? ›

In Italy, they are traditionally eaten during the Festa di San Giussepe (the Feast of Saint Joseph), when they are sold in the streets and given as gifts. The version always made in our family includes ricotta, sugar, eggs, flour, baking soda, and vanilla. This version is sometimes also referred to as “sfinge”.

Zeppola (Italian: [ˈdzeppola]; pl. : zeppole), sometimes called frittelle, and in Sardinia italianized zippole or zeppole sarde from the original Sardinian tzípulas, is an Italian pastry consisting of a deep-fried dough ball of varying size but typically about 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter.

Zeppoli Italian Doughnuts from Olive Garden with chocolate, caramel or raspberry sauce.

Many traditional zeppole recipes involve adding ricotta to the batter mixture, which is an ingredient never seen in beignets. This is often what makes the batter sticky, so it can be piped or spoon-dropped directly into hot oil for frying, unlike beignets, which are first rolled out and cut into squares.

Pizza dough fried and sprinkled with sugar while warm make these Zeppole the perfect snack. When I was growing up, periodically my Sicilian mother would make Zeppole. Imagine golden fried pizza dough that puffs up when it hits the hot oil and is abundantly sprinkled with sugar once it's out of the frying pan.

One of the theories claims that after St. Joseph fled to Egypt with Mary and Jesus, he started to sell pancakes to provide for his family, therefore, tying sweets and desserts like zeppoles to his name.

zeppole. Sometimes fried, sometimes baked, these traditional doughnuts also come in different shapes and flavours depending on the region. They can even sometimes have a different name, such as bignè, sfinge or crispelli.

Zeppole are an Italian pastry similar to Bomboloni and are basically fried donut balls made out of Cream Puff dough. They are very popular during St. Josephs Day in Italy which is also Italian Father's Day.

The history of Italian zeppole

Some cite the convent of Santa Patrizia in Naples as having first made zeppole (a baked version, rather than deep-fried), back in the 16th century.

The main difference between a beignet and a zeppole is the dough as well as the shape. Zeppoles are looser than beignets, and the dough tends to be stickier. They're also made by drop spooning them into oil, whereas beignets have a very distinct square or rectangle shape.

What are honeymooners donuts? ›

Our honeymooners are made from our donut dough and topped with a generous spoonful of our fruity pie fillings and surrounded by vanilla icing. CHERRY. APPLE. LEMON.

The CADBURY MINI EGGS^® Dream Donut is a fun and festive donut that's dipped in white fondant, decorated with colourful sprinkles and topped with a nest of CADBURY MINI EGGS^®. Also available now are the CADBURY MINI EGGS^® Cookies, which are packed with the famous and beloved crunchy, chocolatey CADBURY MINI EGGS^®.

While zeppole dough is said to be slightly thicker, both donut-like pastries have similar ingredients, including flour, eggs, salt, sugar, and milk; there are also variations on both pastries made with potato.

Your homemade zeppoles will keep fresh for about 2-3 days. Make sure you place them in an airtight container in the refrigerator to keep them from going stale. You can also freeze them for up to six months in the freezer.

🇮🇹 Zeppole is plural and zeppola is singular. The correct (plural) pronunciation is zey-po-lay and singular is zey-po-lah.

Start by sprinkling yeast over warm water to activate, then add flour, sugar, salt, milk, shortening, and eggs to create the dough. Knead the dough until smooth, cover it, and allow it to rise until doubled in size. Roll the dough out to a ½ inch thickness before using a doughnut cutter to create a shape.

Yeast doughnuts, as the name clearly spells out, are made from dough leavened with yeast (think brioche), whereas cake doughnuts are traditionally made from a kind of cake batter that uses a chemical leavener (i.e. baking powder or baking soda).

Küchle is made from a light, fluffy yeast dough and pulled into discs have a thick, inner-tube shaped ring on the outside and paper thin layer connecting the middle. They're then deep fried on both sides and topped with powdered sugar and a little cinnamon.