Sfince di San Giuseppe are big and delicious sweets, a dive right into ricotta served with the soft texture of the fried Bigne'dough.
What dessert do you think I am talking about?
In Italy the father’s day is celebrated on the 19th of March which is Saint Joseph’s day, the father of Jesus Christ.

The tradition that we do in my town, Alcamo, is to eat “Sfince di San Giuseppe“. But in other parts of Italy they are called: Zeppole di San Giuseppe, Raviole di San Giuseppe, Maritozzi.
They are big and delicious, a dive right into ricotta served with the soft texture of the fried Bigne`dough.
Sfince di San Giuseppe for Father’s Day
Sfince di San Giuseppe are big and delicious sweets, a dive right into ricotta served with the soft texture of the fried Bigne'dough.
Ingredients
Sfince
- 1 cup water
- 3.5 0z butter
- 1 ⅔ cup flour 00
- 5 eggs
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
Ricotta Cream
- 3 cups ricotta
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- 3.5 oz candied orange
- 3.5 0z dark chocolate drops
Instructions
Sfince
- Pour the water into a saucepan.
- Add the butter, sugar and salt and bring to the boil.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the flour, stirring constantly to avoid the formation of lumps.
- Put the pot back on the low heat and mix by beating the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon, until the mixture blends and begins to detach from the sides of the pot (you will see a white coating on the sides of the pot).
- Add the eggs one at a time to the cold mixture and mix well before adding the other eggs, one at a time.
- When the mixture of bigne`dough will become smooth and creamy, broil 3-4 tablespoons at a time in plenty of hot oil at 165°C (330°F) until the sfince become puffed and golden brown (10-20 minutes). Heat the oil in a pan with high sides, so that the sfince can float ….
- Warning: the oil must not be too hot, if you have a thermometer, make sure that does not exceed 165 °C.
- Put them to cool on paper towels so that they lose the excess oil.
- The original frying of the sfince occurred in lard, I used peanut oil.
Ricotta cream
- Put the ricotta in a colander to drain overnight and store in the refrigerator, then sift it, mix it thoroughly in a bowl with the sugar, and add the chocolate chips and candied orange.
Assembling
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a smooth and wide nozzle with ricotta.
- Stuff the sfinci and cover them with the remaining ricotta on the surface.
- Sprinkle with dark chocolate chips, and decorated with a thread of candied orange.
- Let them sit for about an hour if you can resist tasting them.?
Notes
The ingredients and the method for the Sfince are similar to the Bigne` with the difference that the sfince are fried. ENJOY!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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