Italian Pastry Cream 

1. Make the pastry cream first and store it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. 

Make the Choux Pastry Dough

1. Preheat oven to 400℉—place rack in the center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Beat the room-temperature eggs in a medium bowl, cover with cling wrap or plastic wrap, and set aside. 
3. Whisk together flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
4. In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the water and butter over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. After boiling for about 30 seconds, remove the saucepan from the heat.
5. Add the flour mixture in one addition and stir with a wooden spoon. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to combine the wet and dry ingredients. Return the saucepan to the stove. Reduce the heat to medium-low and keep stirring until the mixture forms into a smooth ball and comes away from the sides of the pan (5 minutes total). This is KEY to letting some of the water evaporate- skipping this step yields to a runny dough. 
6. Transfer the choux dough mixture to a large mixing bowl. Let cool for a few minutes.
7. Add the beaten eggs, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition with a wooden spoon, stand mixer paddle attachment or hand-held beaters. It may seem like the dough won’t incorporate, but it does- keep mixing!

Shape and Bake the Dough

1. Spoon dough into a pastry bag fitted with an open star tip. I like to place my pastry bag in a tall cup for easy filling. 
2. Pipe dough into 2″ nests on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The dough resembles a donut’s shape and size with a hole in the middle.
3. Place in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.
4. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly. Let the pastries cool for about 10 minutes in the oven. 
5. Remove the pastry shells from the oven and let them cool completely. 

Assemble the Baked Zeppole 

1. Once cooled cut the baked zeppole in half with a serrated knife. 
2. Fill another pastry bag fitted with an open star tip with Italian pastry cream and pipe on one-half of the zeppole shells; you can also use a spoon for the pastry cream. Cover with the other half of the baked zeppole and pipe another tablespoon over the top, OR make a small hole and pipe pastry cream directly in the cavity; and top with more pastry cream. You can also leave the tops plain. 
3. Top the baked zeppole with amarena cherries and a dusting of icing sugar (powdered sugar). Enjoy!