Being doughnut and eclair lovers, our family really got into this tradition. Every year on March 19th, when the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano, we ask each other if we made St Joseph’s Day cakes. More often than not it seems we don’t, but this year I actually did — in Italy no less!
I think I baked these…
Mom sent me this recipe a few years ago. Traditionally, we always deep fried them, dropping them by blobs into the oil, and we didn’t fill them because we would just eat them hot out of the oil rolled in powdered sugar. It’s one of the few things I’m willing to deep fry, although it still takes major effort to use all that oil.
16 servings
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE SFINGI
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
FOR THE FILLING AND ASSEMBLY
16 ounces fresh ricotta cheese
1 cup sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons almond extract
1 tablespoon rum (may substitute 1 tablespoon rum extract)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
2 tablespoons mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup whole or low-fat milk, or as needed
16 maraschino cherries, drained, for garnishDIRECTIONS
For the sfingi: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Use cooking oil spray to grease 16 muffin tin wells.
Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl.
Heat the water and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once it comes to a boil, add the flour mixture; immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and stir vigorously, scraping the sides and bottom of the saucepan, until the dough comes together in a cohesive ball that appears fairly dry. Remove from the heat; cool for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the eggs one at a time, thoroughly incorporating each one into the dough before adding the next. The dough will appear wet at first, but keep stirring, and it will absorb the egg. Fold in the sugar and the orange and lemon zests.
Use a large spoon to portion the dough evenly among the 16 muffin pan wells. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the sfingi are a light golden brown, then rotate the pan(s) front to back, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for about 30 minutes or until they are nicely puffed and golden brown. Turn out the sfingi onto a rack to cool completely..
For the filling and assembly: Combine the ricotta, sugar, almond extract (to taste), rum, cinnamon, orange zest and chocolate chips in a mixing bowl. If the filling is stiff, gradually stir in milk as needed to form a smooth but fairly firm filling. (Don’t add too much, or the filling will be runny.)
Slice the tops from the cooled sfingi. (Reserve the tops for a snack.) Spoon filling into each of the sfingi, mounding it slightly.
Top with a maraschino cherry. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and serve chilled.