St.Joseph Cream Puffs (Sfince Palermitane)
St.Joseph Cream Puffs (Sfince Palermitane) are a traditional dessert in Sicily, Palermo.
They are similar to Neapolitan zeppole, but rather than piped into rings and filled with pastry cream, they are filled with sweetened ricotta cream and garnished with crushed pistachios and candied citrus.
March 19 is San Giuseppe and Father's Day and on this occasion among the sweets of San Giuseppe that are prepared in Sicily there are the inevitable sfince di San Giuseppe, puffy and impalpable sweets filled and covered with Cream of Ricotta.
In Sicily, which claims St. Joseph as its patron saint, the day is met with genuine ardor. There are parades and processions; in churches and in homes, three-tiered altars are assembled and adorned with fruit and ornately decorated loaves of bread.
And there are pastries. Not surprisingly, the region that gave the world cannoli and hand-painted marzipan fruit has a pastry dedicated to the celebration of its patron saint. That pastry is sfince, pronounced “sfeen-chay.” Or, to put it another way: fried cream puffs.
Origins
The word “sfince” (sometimes spelled ‘sfinci’ or ‘sfingi’) means ‘sponge,’ and is believed to have Arab origins. Arabs ruled Sicily for more than a century (before being defeated by the Normans in the 11th century), and they are credited with giving Sicilians their taste for desserts and introducing ingredients such as pistachios, almonds, cinnamon, citrus, and sugar. Later, in the 1800s, Swiss pastry chefs who immigrated to southern Italy and opened pastry shops in Naples and Palermo, introduced butter and cream.
The sfince reflects both traditions. The batter for the pastry, a mix of butter, water and flour cooked on the stovetop and then enriched with eggs, is, essentially, choux—the same thick paste used to make cream puffs or their savory counterpart, gougères.
It was the nuns of the Monastero delle Stimmate in Palermo who made the sfince into a masterpiece of goodness by combining them with fresh ricotta cheese.
The recipe is said to have been learnt from local confectioners, who embellished these unique sweets with candied fruit, orange zest and chopped pistachio.
How to prepare them
The only important caution to have is in frying, which must take place in two phases to allow the pasta to grow and increase in volume to perfection.
With a few small precautions you will obtain truly perfect home-made Sfince di San Giuseppe according to the original recipe, worthy of the best pastry shops.
In fact if the oil is too hot, the pastry will brown on the outside, but inside the dense batter will be undercooked. The key is to keep the frying oil to about 340° F (170° C) and to leave the puffs in for a good 5 to 6 minutes. Starting around the 2-minute mark, they will slowly but surely begin to expand, eventually tripling in size and splitting open a bit as the water in the batter turns to steam. They may even turn over by themselves as they inflate. Bobbing in the oil, they look a bit like little blowfish.
Like so many fried treats, sfince are best soon after they emerge from their oil bath. Biting into a still-warm sfincia rolled in sugar is the best way to savor both its delicate, crispy exterior and its airy, tender, slightly eggy interior. Then again, there is much to be said for the more lavish, ricotta-filled version. Use the freshest ricotta you can find to make the cream, and make sure it’s well drained, so that it whips up light and fluffy but still retains some body.
The decoration with candied fruit - a strip of candied orange, cherry on top and chopped pistachios also makes them really beautiful to bring to the table. Shall we bet they will be snapped up? In fact, we will get with this recipe Sfince di San Giuseppe worthy of the best cafes!
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[instagram-feed feed=1] [kofi]Sfince di San Giuseppe are a Sicilian dessert that is prepared on the occasion of March 19 to celebrate San Giuseppe and Father's Day!
Let's find out the recipe together and many tips for frying to have tall and swollen dough.
- 250 ml water
- 250 g flour 00' (or pastry flour)
- 75 g lard
- 5 g salt
- 300 g eggs (about 5, it depends on the size go the egg, always weight the eggs just in case)
- 500 g fresh sheep ricotta (drained overnight)
- 200 g sugar
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 15 1 candied cherries
- 15 1 candied oranges
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar (to sprinkle on top)
The first thing to do to prepare the homemade sfince di San Giuseppe is to prepare the ricotta cream. First let the ricotta drain well (for a whole night) and then add the granulated sugar. Leave to rest for another night and then sift with a vegetable mill or sieve. Only at this point can you add the chocolate chips.
Now dedicate yourself to the base, or rather to the preparation of the dough for the sfince. In a saucepan, add the water, salt and lard. Turn on the heat and stir to completely melt the lard.
At this point you can add the flour all at once. Mix vigorously in order to obtain a compact dough which detaches from the walls.
Then turn off the flame and let it cool completely.
Now you can add the eggs, one at a time, waiting for the first to be well absorbed before adding the next. Work vigorously with a fork.
In the end you will have to obtain a homogeneous, compact and elastic compound.
You can do this process with the help of a stand mixer, like it did this time.At this point you can move on to the most delicate phase of preparing the Sicilian Sphince di San Giuseppe, frying! To understand how to fry the sfince di san Giuseppe we must pay attention to the temperature of the oil. For perfect frying, in fact, it is important that the sfincione di san Giuseppe is cooked first in oil at a lower temperature and then finished cooking at a higher temperature. You will have to heat the oil but keeping the flame low. The oil must have approximately a temperature of 170°C. (340°F).
Pour a spoonful of dough to obtain a large size. If, on the other hand, you want to prepare smaller spheres, add just a teaspoon. In fact, the sfince will considerably increase their volume during cooking.
Pour the mixture and wait for it to float. At that point, start turning the slices continuously, always keeping the flame low. In this way the sfince will be able to increase their volume gently.
When you realize that the sfince no longer increase in volume, raise the heat and bring the oil to around 190°C. Continuing to turn them, brown the sfince all over the surface.
Once you reach a well-golden color, you can drain the sfince and then pass them on a sheet of absorbent paper so as to eliminate the excess oil.
Now the oil is hot so the mixture that you will add at this moment will fry immediately. Then immediately lower the heat or even turn it off to lower the oil temperature, bringing it back to around 170°C. Always keep turning the slices continuously so that they brown perfectly but are also well cooked inside.
Continue in this way with all the dough at your disposal.
After frying you can move on to the filling. The sfince can only be sprinkled on the surface with ricotta cream or stuffed inside as well.
In this second case, cut the sfincia in half, add the ricotta cream, and then close. Stuffed on the surface with other ricotta cream.
It's time to decorate your walls! Add half a candied cherry, a candied orange zest and chopped pistachios to each pastry. The homemade Sicilian sfincia di San Giuseppe is now ready to be served!
You can also fry the sfince in two different pans with oils at two different temperatures. In this case you will keep an oil at 160°C and another at 190°C. The sfince will first be passed in the oil at a lower temperature, turning them until they swell completely. When they no longer increase in volume, you can drain them and pass them in the oil at a higher temperature to brown them. You will still get an excellent result and speed up the frying of all the donuts.
The sfince di San Giuseppe can be kept for a maximum of 2 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Unstuffed sfince can be kept for up to 3-4 days in a food bag and stuffed only when served.
