It’s time for Father’s Day! Dads are amazing, whether they’re playing catch with us or lecturing us about our busted car. What better way is there to celebrate them than by baking them a cake? The Zeppole of San Giuseppe is no ordinary cake, however. Let’s dive into the long history of this classic Italian Father’s Day cake.
The first recipe found for this cake is found in the treatise of Theoretical-Practical cuisine of the gastronome Ippolito Cavalcanti, who wrote it in his Neapolitan language in the book he wrote in 1834. However, the cake itself goes back much further than 1834.
Like many other Catholic countries, Italy connects Father’s Day with March 19th, Joseph’s Day who was the protector of fathers and patron saint of the Church. Even though we do not celebrate Father’s Day in March, the holiday’s connection to Joseph’s Day remains.
The first to celebrate Joseph’s Day were the Benedictine monks in 1030. Pope Gregory XV in 1621 made this day into a canonical festival celebrated in Italy. In the Bel Paese, every special event has its own recipe, and the Zeppole of San Giuseppe became the dessert for Joseph’s Day.
Joseph’s Day celebrates Joseph, Mary’s husband from the Bible. After the Holy Family escaped to Egypt, Joseph worked as a fryer and a carpenter. The second legend attributes the origin of the Zeppole to the Romans during the celebration of the Liberalia, which were celebrations to honour the deities of wine and wheat, and the Zeppole seen today is a descendant of the fritters made for those celebrations.
In short, the Zeppole of San Giuseppe dates back to almost 1,000 years ago. This dessert was made to honour a father, so why not make it to honour yours?
Here’s the recipe:
