Falling on March 19th, St. Joseph’s Day honors this patron saint of fathers and carpenters who is recognized in Catholic and Christian observant destinations, including in Italy. He is not only recognized through religious services but also in culinary offerings.
As an Italian food tradition, this feast day is celebrated with two special pastries, Zeppole di San Giuseppe and Sfingi di San Giuseppe (San Giuseppe is Saint Joseph in the Italian language,).
At first, these St. Joseph’s Day specialties might look the same but they have some differences with preparation and taste.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe are made with choux pastry and both filled and topped with a pastry crème. They are also garnished with amarena cherries and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Sfingi di San Giuseppe has some slight opposites, in that they are filled with sweetened ricotta cream and garnished with crushed pistachios and candied citrus.
These pastries are commonly found in traditional Italian bakeries. If you’re near to New York City, the Bronx’s Little Italy makes for a great shopping or foodie trip. Set within the Belmont neighborhood, Bronx’s Little Italy has many bakeries noted for their St. Joseph’s Day pastries and other Italian delectables. They include:
This multigenerational bakery was opened by Vincent Artuso in 1946. Many of the bakery’s recipes passed down many of their recipes through each generation, adapting them through modern revisions to meet with lfood trends and community needs.
Artuso Pastry Shop carries zeppole and sfingi, which are available now until St. Joseph’s Day. The zeppole is filled and topped with vanilla custard cream and amarena cherries, while the sfingi is filled and topped with rich cannoli cream and adorned with candied citrus fruit, a glazed cherry, and sprinkles.
“At Artuso Pastry, we take pride in crafting traditional St. Joseph pastries, namely the zeppole and the sfingi,” said the bakery’s Manager Natalia Corridi. “These pastries have a rich history and are deeply rooted in Italian culinary traditions.”
As another family owned & operated shop, Delillo Pastry Shop has been a fixture of the Arthur Avenue food scene since 1925. Delillo produces fresh batches of its trademark cannolis, rainbow cookies, lobster tails, sfogliatelle and biscotti daily. In the summer months, guests can pull up a chair at the shop’s outdoor patio and cool down with some Italian ice.
In honor of St. Joseph, Delillo carries sfingi and zeppole. Sfingi feature cannoli cream, topped with a glazed cherry and candied orange. The zeppole features custard with glazed cherries.
Egidio Pastry Shop is the oldest pastry shop on Arthur Avenue, a mainstay here since 1912. It’s said that the shop’s recipes for their sfingi and St. Joseph zeppole have remained unchanged.
Their sfingi features ricotta cream, bergamot orange and a glazed cherry. The St. Joseph zeppole features custard cream and an amarena cherry.
The shop’s current owner is Maria Carmela Lucciola, who has been running the business for more than 40 years. Although Carmela is not a descendent of Egidio, she carries on the family’s legacy out of respect, using their original recipes and taking care of the store, while adding her own touches. Other noted selections include biscotti cookies and their cannoli, which are referred to by customers as “holy cannoli.”
Founded in 1960, this longtime pastry shop is owned by Jerome Raguso, the son of its founder, Gino Raguso. Jermone maintains the family shop’s tradition roots and honors its longtime recipes.
The shop prepares a traditional deep-fried St. Joseph zeppole with vanilla custard and amarena cherries and their St. Joseph sfingi stuffed with cannoli cream and topped with an orange citron strip. Gino’s is also noted for their cannolis. Photos of famous visitors such as actors Joe Pesci and Al Pacino are shown the walls of this pastry shop.
As a youngster amid Arthur Avenue’s longtimers, Morrone Pastry Shop & Café was established in 2005 by Ermanno Morrone. This small bakery is big on brightly lit display cases full of traditional Italian pastries, cookies, and cakes. The shop has also gotten high marks for their rainbow cookies and giant sugar cookies.
For St. Joseph’s Day, the pastry shop is maintaining this Italian tradition by carrying St. Joseph zeppole with custard, topped with an Amarena cherry, and a St. Joseph sfingi featuring cannoli cream, topped with a candied orange slice and a glazed cherry.
“Since day one, Morrone Pastry Shop has offered St. Joseph pastries,” said Morrone. “With decades of experience, the bakers of Morrone Pastry have made the traditional recipe their own, while still offering the delectable classic taste that customers love to enjoy year after year, keeping the tradition and culture alive. Over the years, customers haven’t been able to choose a favorite, they indulge in both the zeppole (vanilla custard) and sfingi (cannoli cream).”
Morrone Pastry Shop & Cafe is also known for offering a wide variety of specialty and custom designed cakes and customers can also order cannoli, biscotti, and tiramisu perhaps pairing them with cappuccinos, espressos, and macchiatos.
Celebrating over 100 years in business, Madonia Bakery will offer sfingi with both custard cream or cannoli cream this year. Mario Madonia founded the bakery in 1918 after years of managing his own bread push-cart in Belmont. It continues to remain within the family, with ownership having been passed down from generation to generation.
“Sfingi and zeppole are distinctive dough and cooking methods – we make sfingi that are a light pastry dough and baked in the oven,” said the bakery’s co-owner Daniel Calano-Moore. “Traditional sfingi from our Sicilian/southern Italian regional culture are filled with a sweet ricotta cream. We also offer homemade custard cream filling as that is the traditional filling for zeppole in northern Italy. Depending on the region, as well as individual family nomenclatures, the names are sometimes interchangeable, although we from the Madonia family officially call ours Sfingi.”