I’m looking for any Italian bakeries in Southern California that serve St. Joseph’s Day pastries - namely, sfingi or zeppole di San Giuseppe.
These pastries are seasonally available at many older Italian bakeries in the northeastern U.S., especially in the traditional Italian/Sicilian strongholds.
Typically, they’re served from early- or mid-March through Easter to commemorate St. Joseph’s Day, which falls on March 19th.
Since moving to LA, I’ve had trouble finding sfingi and zeppole. The only bakery I’ve found which serves either of these pastries is Eagle Rock Italian Bakery & Deli, which serves a very mediocre zeppola in March.
Any other suggestions? I’m willing to go out of my way and/or place a special order if necessary.
First time to try this and I’d say this is more European than Italian American so it’s probably not as sweet as what you’d get in Brooklyn.
Off menu seasonal item not in their display case of baked goods.
Instead of a filled puff, the Italian pastry cream was piled on top - plated to order and they asked me to wait 10 minutes.
All the elements were executed well and props to LA Puglia for using real Amarena cherries
Looking at the example you provided, I’m guessing you might be lookng for a crunchy choux pastry puff - their version is on the soft side.
The cashier I spoke to said the bakers might be able to adjust to a customer’s specs. (In my case, an Alchermes/pink liquor-tinted zuccotto like what I used to get at Victoria Pastry in San Francisco’s North Beach).
Anyway, wishing you happy eats and Happy St. Joseph’s Day/March 19th!
Like a lot of traditional Italian dishes there are a lot of regional variations. I think on the East Coast they’re usually fried doughnuts filled with custard or pastry cream, like the ones I’ve had in SF.
