Bignè di San Giuseppe are such a special treat that you'll only find them at one moment in the year in Rome (and that's probably a good thing). <br /> <br />Although you can bake this pastry (as traditional French style choux pastries are usually made), make no mistake: They won't be bignè di San Giuseppe unless they're fried. The result is a wonderfully soft, fluffy pastry that feels surprisingly light in terms of texture and consistency. Paired with a thick pastry cream and a light dusting of confectioners' sugar, it's not overly sweet and makes just the thing to eat with your morning coffee for a special breakfast treat. <br /> <br />The pastry cream recipe is edited slightly from my cookbook, Florentine (Hardie Grant Books), and will make about 680 grams. It's a little more than you need for this recipe, but leftover pastry cream is never a bad thing! The bigne recipe is based on a traditional proportional recipe for choux pastry. I used eggs from my family's own backyard chickens: They weigh about 57 grams each and the yolks are bright orange! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuMLHT3x1M8&spfreload=1">Here</a href> is a handy video (in Italian) that lets you see what each step of the batter mixture and frying should look like.

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