A zeppola is an Italian pastry consisting of a deep-fried dough ball of varying size but typically about 4 inches in diameter. This fritter is usually topped with powdered sugar, and may be filled with custard, jelly, cannoli-style pastry cream, or a butter-and-honey mixture. The consistency ranges from light and puffy, to bread- or pasta-like. It is eaten to celebrate Saint Joseph's Day, which is a Catholic feast day.
A basic recipe for zeppole, aka ricotta donuts, consists of one pound of ricotta cheese, two cups of enriched flour, five slightly beaten eggs, a pinch of salt, five tablespoons of sugar, four teaspoons of baking powder, and one teaspoon of vanilla. First, mix all of the ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Then, pre-heat vegetable oil on the stove at a medium temperature. Next, drop the dough, with a teaspoon, in the hot oil until it is golden brown. While it is in the oil, you should turn the pastry as it comes to the top. Then, remove the zeppole from the oil and place it onto brown paper to cool. Once the pastries are cooled, place a few of them in a brown paper bag with 10x powdered sugar. Once they are in the bag, shake the bag until all of them are evenly coated with sugar. They should be served hot but can easily be reheated at a later time.