The Italian Feast of St. Joseph on March 19th

In the Italian family the Feast of St. Joseph is very special, especially for those who are named Joseph or Josephine. On this wonderful day special "pastries" are made to celebrate those who have the honored name. These are a very special favorite of mine, so much so that I don't limit the enjoyment of these pastries just for the date of March 19 th.

Sfingi di San Giusepe
(St. Joseph's Day Cream Puffs)

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
Dash of salt
1 cup of water
1 cup of cake flour
4 eggs
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

Combine butter, salt, and water in saucepan and bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon add the cake flour all at one time and mix well until mixture leaves the sides of the pan.

Remove from the stove and cool for about 10 minutes or so.

Still using a wooden spoon add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add the sugar, orange and lemon peel and mix thoroughly.

Drop dough by the tablespoonful on a greased baking sheet or one lined with parchment paper that has been greased, leaving a 3 inch space between them. Batter makes about 14 to 16 sfingi.

Bake in hot oven 400 degrees for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake 30 minutes more or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the parchment paper.

When cool make a slit in side of each puff and fill with Ricotta Filling. See recipe below.

Ricotta Filling

1 pound whole milk ricotta cheese
2 tbsp mini chocolate chips
1 tbsp candied orange peel, cut very fine
1 ounce of Creme de Cacao
or any other liqueur that you prefer
2 tbsp sugar

Using an electric mixer cream the ricotta well. Then add chocolate chips, orange peel, creme de cacao and sugar and mix very well.

Put creamed mixture into a pastry bag using a wide tip and pipe the mixture into the pastry puffs. OR using a serrated knife you can gently slice the top off of the
pastry puffs and fill the bottoms and then replace the tops of the puffs.

This is an easy and lovely pastry to make and the flavors will never be forgotten once you have tried them. Enjoy with a cappuccino and be sure to share them with someone named Joseph or Josephine. They make a great gift, especially since they are homemade.
Enjoy!!!!!!!!!