This sfogilatella from La Sfogliatella Mary was the best we tasted among four other pastry shops. Sfogliatella are one of Naples’ traditional sweets. The pastry dates back to the late 1600s. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
Naples is renowned for its pizza, pasta and seafood.
Perhaps not as well-known is that the city is home to many pasticcerie, or pastry shops, offering a variety of signature Neapolitan sweets such as rum baba; torta caprese, or chocolate cake; and sfogliatelle.
Don’t try to pronounce that last one. Just head down to La Sfogliatella Mary in Naples’ Quartieri Spagnoli neighborhood for some of the best of this crispy, cheesy treat.
Sfogliatelle are palm-sized pastries traditionally filled with a ricotta cheese mixture flavored with citrus and spices.
There are two variations. Riccia, or curly, features a seashell-shaped outer crust of very thin pastry layers sort of like those in baklava. Frolla is round and made with a shortbread, or a crumbly biscuitlike crust.
This cross-section of a frolla sfogliatella from Cuorie di Sfogliatella near Naples central train station shows the ricotta filling and shortbread crust. Cuorie sells the traditional treats for about 1.80 euros each. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
If you like crunch, get riccia. Frolla is better if you prefer a softer, cookie-type experience.
The first version of what is known today as a sfogliatella was invented in the late 1600s by a nun at the Santa Rosa Monastery on the Amalfi Coast near Salerno, according to the website Authentic Amalfi Coast.
About 150 years later, the recipe somehow was acquired by Naples pastry chef Pasquale Pintauro, who modified it and began baking it at his shop on Via Toledo in Naples, the website states. You can still buy them there today.
Since then, pastry shops across the region have been baking the treat and enhancing the ricotta filling with different flavorings, such as pistachio, lemon or chocolate.
Pasticceria Salvatore Varriale not only offers both versions of sfogliatella but also has indoor and outdoor seating, making the pastry shop a good place to enjoy your treat with an espresso and watch Naples' fashionable Chiaia residents walk by. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
In my recent quest to find the best sfogliatella in Naples, I visited Pintauro, La Sfogliatella Mary, Pasticceria Salvatore Varriale, Cuori di Sfogliatella and SfogliateLab. All of them were featured on various online foodie and travel websites.
Two other shops on the list, Antica Pasticceria Carraturo and Antica Forno della sfogliatelle calde F.lli Attansio, were closed on the Wednesday I visited.
During my trip to La Sfogliatella Mary, I ordered a traditional riccia for 2 euros. The shop also offers frolla but I like the curly, crisp layers of the labor-intensive riccia.
A cross-section of a sfogliatella from La Sfogliatella Mary in Naples shows the rich, creamy ricotta filling inside. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
The pastry arrived hot, topped with powdered sugar and wrapped in a paper napkin. Sfogliatella, like most Naples street food, is made to be eaten on the go and best served warm.
Perfectly baked, the crust was flaky and crunchy, offering a nice balance to the creamy ricotta filling studded with candied orange.
It was easy to see why the popular pastry shop, located in a vestibule of the Galleria Umberto I shopping mall adjacent to Via Toledo, often has a long line.
This sfogliatella — rich, warm and satisfying — was the best I had eaten all day, edging out an almost equally good offering by Pintauro.
Pintauro on Via Toledo in Naples is the birthplace of modern-day sfogliatelle or sfogliatella, singularly. The shops sells two versions, frolla, which has a bun-like appearance and riccia, pictured here. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
The birthplace of modern-day sfogliatelle was right up there with my other favorite, but I give Mary’s the edge on the strength of its slightly more flavorful ricotta cheese filling and the warmth of the pastry served to me.
Both were far superior to the sfogliatelle from the other three shops, which offered paler, blander, room-temperature versions that just didn’t measure up.
For example, the sfogliatelle from Pasticceria Salvatore Varriale weren’t warm, and while the crust in both the riccia and frolla versions was OK, the filling was inferior.
However, the pastry shop, located in Naples’ fashionable Chiaia neighborhood, sells a variety of other baked goods along with espresso. It also has indoor and outdoor seating, a rarity among hardcore, to-go sfogliatelle shops.
Cuorie di Sfogliatella near Naples central train station sells a variety of sfogliatella in riccia and frolla versions. Flavorings run the gamut from lemon, chocolate and pistachio to savory versions with salami and cheese or tomato and basil. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
Cuori di Sfogliatella and SfogliateLab also have seating and are near the central train station. Each offered passable sfogliatelle, but again, a lack of warmth and bland flavoring made them less than memorable.
These shops do offer an assortment of flavorings, though, including savory versions.
Not all sfogliatelle are equal. So make Pasquale happy and resist the temptation to try those pretty or trendy versions.
Instead head to Mary’s or Pintauro’s for the best of what Naples has to offer.
La Sfogliatella Mary
Address: Galleria Principe Umberto 66, Naples, Italy
Hours: 8 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday; closed on Mondays
Cost: 2 euros; other pastries, such as baba, also available
Information: +39 081402218; www.facebook.com/lasfogliatellamaryofficial
Pintauro
Address: Via Toledo 275, Naples, Italy
Hours: 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesday-Monday; closed Tuesday
Price: 3 euros, also sells other pastries.
Information: +39 3487781645
