Zeppole di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's Day Pastries)

For the choux pastry

1. Preheat oven to 400f and set the rack on the middle level.
2. Place the butter, sugar, water, and milk in a large saucepan. Turn the heat to medium and let the mixture come up to a boil.
3. Once boiling, add the flour and using a spatula stir well until all of the flour is incorporated and the mixture comes together into a ball (about 2 minutes).
4. Remove the pan from the heat and move the dough around with the spatula to cool it down. Wait at least 5 minutes before adding the eggs.
5. Add one lightly beaten egg and mix well until it is fully incorporated. Repeat the process for the remaining eggs, one at a time. The batter should have a sheen and be pliable and easy to pipe.
6. Place the dough into a piping bag with a star tip. Prepare baking sheets lined with either silicon or parchment paper. Pipe 3-inch circles in two layers, starting from the inside on the first layer. Leave a hole in the top of the second layer for the pastry cream. Make sure to leave at least 3 inches of room between each because they will expand during baking.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until they turn lightly golden. Remove from the oven and after 10 minutes transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the pastry cream

1. Prepare a large bowl filled with ice water.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, warm up the milk and vanilla.
3. To a separate saucepot (not on the stove) add the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch and whisk until combined. Place the pot onto a burner then begin whisking in the warm milk.
4. Next, turn the heat to medium and continue to whisk. Slowly increase the heat, while continuing to whisk. Let the mixture come to a boil for 2-3 minutes or until it thoroughly coats the back of a wooden spoon.
5. Pour the pastry cream into a medium bowl and tightly cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl into the larger bowl of ice water. Once the cream is cold remove the bowl from the ice water and move on to filling the pastries.

Piping and finishing the pastries

1. Slice the pastry in half for easy filling or if a large enough area was made for holding the filling forgo the slicing of the pastry.
2. Place the cooled pastry cream into a piping bag with a star tip. Fill the bottom of the pastry with cream then close it up like a sandwich. Top with more cream but smaller in diameter than the zeppole.
3. Sprinkle with powdered sugar then place 1 or 2 cherries on top. Enjoy!