Best St. Joseph's Day pastry (sfingi di San Giuseppe) in NYC?

[italianices]

As St. Joseph's Day is coming up in exactly two weeks on March 19th, St. Joseph's Day pastries (sfingi di San Giuseppe) will be available very soon in Sicilian/Italian bakeries around the Tri-State area.

St. Joseph's Day pastries are basically zeppole that are filled with cream or custard. I've only encountered deep-fried versions, but apparently they can be baked as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppole

Can anyone recommend bakeries in the five boroughs or even the suburbs which make the best versions of this pastry? If possible, please mention whether they're deep-fried or baked.

Also, are these pastries generally only available on March 19th, or are they sold for a 2-3 week period before and after the 19th? Does it vary from one bakery to the next?

Thanks in advance.

[phantomdoc]

If you go to Enrico's on Morris Park Ave. in the Bronx, I would be remiss if not letting you know that the lobster tail is unmatched. It is filled with a rum flavored Bavarian cream.

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Enrico's Pastry Shop
1057 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10462

[italianices]

BTW, can anyone recommend some good spots for sfingi and zeppole di San Giuseppe in the Bronx or Staten Island? I have a few places in Brooklyn and Queens besides the ones listed in this thread that sound promising: Mondial Bakery in Bensonhurst, Caffe Capri in Williamsburg, Rose & Joe's in Astoria, D'Aquila Pastry Shop in Bayside, Cascon Cheesecake in Whitestone, and Leo's/Mama's in Corona. But so far, no recommendations from those other two boroughs.

Is it fair to assume that any Italian/Sicilian bakery which is known for great cannoli such as, say, Madonia Brothers, Conti Pastry Shoppe, Enrico's Pastry Shop, Sal & Dom's, or Pasticceria Bruno would also make great sfingi and zeppole?

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Cascon Cheesecake
7-04 149th St, Queens, NY 11357

D'Aquila Pastry Shop
33-31 Francis Lewis Blvd, Queens, NY 11358

Madonia Brothers Bakery
2348 Arthur Ave, Bronx, NY 10458

Leo's Latticini
46-02 104th St, Queens, NY 11368

Enrico's Pastry Shop
1057 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10462

Rose & Joe's
22-40 31st St, Queens, NY 11105

Caffe Capri
427 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Pasticceria Bruno
1650 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10305

Sal & Dom's Pastry Shop
1108 Allerton Ave, Bronx, NY 10469

Conti's Pastry Shoppe
786 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10462

Pasticceria Bruno
676 Forest Ave, Staten Island, NY 10310

Mondial Bakery
7802 20th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11214

[phantomdoc]

I think that you cannot go wrong with Enrico's or Conti's. Maybe try both and report your findings.

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Enrico's Pastry Shop
1057 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10462

Conti's Pastry Shoppe
786 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10462

[bob96]

Madonia is a bread bakery that does have biscotti and cannoli filled to order. I don't recall seeing zeppole di San Giuseppe or sfinge. But that was last year, so it might have changed. One other source that comes to mind is Fortunato Brothers in Willamsburg.

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Fortunato Brothers
289 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

[iluvcookies]

Palumbo and Artuso, both in the Arthur Ave section of the Bronx, make excellent pastry, including zeppole and sfingi.
Sal and Dom's is also very, very good.

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Sal & Dom's Pastry Shop
1108 Allerton Ave, Bronx, NY 10469

Artuso Pastry
670 E 187th St, Bronx, NY 10458

Palombo Pastry Shop
601 E 187th St, Bronx, NY 10458

[italianices]

Thanks again for all the tips, guys.

[MacGuffin]

I think I'll have to head out to Mondial next week to see what they have. I mentioned them in a previous post and I suspect that their sfingi, like everything else of theirs I've sampled, will be stellar.

[bob96]

As with many formerly limited-time sppecialities, sfingi and zeppole di san giuseppe (2 different sweets) can often be seen starting in late January. Villabate in Bensonhurst is my first choice and both Montelone and Court St Pasticceria in Carroll Gradens make decent versions, zeppole filled with pastry cream and sfingi, ricotta. I do not know if either place fries/bakes. There's always variation, of course, and I usually find sfingi better made--NY Italian pastry shops seem to have a hard time making the luscious crema pasticcera that, topped with a dark amarena cherry, is the classic zeppole filling.

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F. Monteleone Bakery & Cafe
355 Court St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Court Pastry Shop
298 Court St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Villabate Alba
7001 18th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11204

[italianices]

Thanks for making note of the distinction between sfingi and zeppole di San Giuseppe - this is something that was never clear to me. Just curious: is it possible that some NYC bakeries make only zeppole on St. Joseph's Day but refer to them as sfingi? If so, this is probably why I was confused on the matter.

I'll definitely check out your suggested places.

[bob96]

Some might, but at least in the places I've shopped and grown up around, always separate. In fact, I used to get them confused when sent to buy a box for the family. Buona Pasqua!

[italianices]

Thanks again!

[Motosport]

Court Pastry is excellent!!! I have not tried the rest.

[CitySpoonful]

Second Villabate in Bensonhurst! Loved their ricotta filled zeppole for Feast of San Giuseppe last year!

(photo: http://www.cityspoonful.com/feast-of-...

)

Also love Sal & Dom's in the Bronx -- great, authentic Sicilian bakery...but haven't tried their zeppole. Can only assume good things about them, though. :)

[italianices]

Thanks so much. I'm gonna try to hit up as many of these places over the next few days now that I have some free time for myself.

[zeugma]

A few years ago, some friends and I had a sfingi di San Giuseppe taste test, comparing pastries from Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. It was an epic battle, but the winner was La Guli in Astoria.

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La Guli Pastry Shop
29-15 Ditmars Blvd, Queens, NY 11105

[italianices]

Thanks - I've heard good things about La Guli's pastries in general.

[scunge]

http://www.circospastryshop.com/ Been going strong for a long time

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Circo's Pastry Shop
312 Knickerbocker Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237

[scunge]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi... Now I'm craving for some.

[italianices]

Cool, I've been to Circo's before - I like their cannoli (fresh-filled to order) and cuccidati (Sicilian fig cookies).

In the facebook link above, am I correct in assuming that the pastries with no orange peel that circle the left, top, and bottom of the plate are zeppole di San Giuseppe, while the pastries on the right side with the orange peels are sfingi di San Giuseppe?