Mom, This One’s for You...and Sharon, too!

From any tray of Italian pastries, you can bet my mom will go for the clamshell shaped sfogliatella. And so will my dear friend Sharon! Luckily you don’t have to be able to pronounce this tongue twister to savor its delight!

This confection, native to Naples and Campania in southern Italy, is in a class by itself. Sometimes called a lobster tai because of its shape, it’s a mixture of ricotta, egg, semolina, candied fruit, a drop of vanilla, a dash of cinnamon with some confectioners sugar, wrapped in a layer of puff pastry and then dusted with a little more confectioner’s sugar as it leaves the oven.

Some people just take a big bite to get the crunch of the pastry together with the sweetness of the filling. For me the best way to enjoy one is to take nibbles of the sweet middle as I unravel long, curly, crispy strips of dough whose crunch balances the smoothness of the cheesy inside.

If you time your bakery visit just right, you can get one still warm from the oven! I was fortunate to do just that the other day. While each bakery has its own combination and proportion of ingredients for the filling, I think I found the most perfect rendition of this iconic sweet.

Greve has a patisseria which Nicola (from Il Cinghale) recommended I try. He said it was the best! When I stopped in the other day for the first time a tray of sfogliatelle caught my eye. “I’d better do some reconnaissance for my mom’s visit in a few weeks,” I thought. So I bought one. It was heavenly. Orange zest provided the subtle, sweet fruity contribution to the filling. I decided it was the best sfogliatella ever.

I was enjoying it so much, I forgot to take a picture. So I went back the next day and waited for a tray of mini sfogliatelle that were still baking. Delicious, too, but I think I like the regular size one better…longer strips of dough to unravel!

The best Sfogliatelle from Pasticceria Chianti in Greve

Can’t you just feel the crunch?