Zeppole are Italian fried dough pastries — rounds of choux or yeasted dough, deep-fried until puffed and golden, and finished with powdered sugar, pastry cream, or both. The texture depends on the dough: choux-based zeppole are light and hollow, crisping at the edges and collapsing slightly when you bite in; yeasted versions are denser, chewier, […]

Continue Reading »

Benne wafers are thin, lacy cookies made from toasted sesame seeds, butter, sugar, and a small amount of flour, dropped by the spoonful onto a baking sheet and baked until they spread into fragile, caramel-edged rounds. They are delicate enough to shatter at slight pressure, sweet with a roasted nuttiness from the sesame, and faintly […]

Continue Reading »