Product Spotlight: Sfogliatelle

Walking into the shop this morning, I saw that the fellas were making our Sfogliatelle again and I couldn’t resist sharing some history on these Napolean treats.

Getting hand-shaped around the Ricotta mixture

For those of you who are yet to try these tasty little gems (pronounced “s-voy-a-dell”), you’re missing out.  The pastries are created around a base of organic Ricotta cheese, in-house zested orange peel, sweetened wheat and cream, using a dough similar to a puff pastry.  The process of making Sfogliatelle is incredibly time consuming; first, a dough that the French call pâte feuilletée (feuilletée, like Sfogliatelle, means “many leaves” or “many layers”) is created by hand.  The dough is then rolled out on a large table, brushed with butter, and rolled up into a log which individual disc portions are cut from.  These discs are then shaped by hand around the special Ricotta cheese mixture and baked.

Because our Sfogliatelle are so popular, Robert has to make them daily to keep up with demand.  Apparently people have been craving them this week, though, because this is the second assembly-line style production of them we’ve had in a week!

On the racks waiting for the oven

There are a few different interpretations of the origins of Sfogliatelle, but we happen to believe what Mr. Joe did, so we’ll tell you that story here.  Back in the 17^th century, a nun at the Carmelite convent of Santa Croce di Lucca in Naples had leftover semolina that she had cooked in milk.  As it was a sin to throw away food, she started adding things to her leftovers—cinnamon, Ricotta cheese and orange blossom water helped to thicken and enrich the mixture, which she then wrapped in a dough that she made using leftover bread dough and lard.  The original shape was supposed to resemble a nun’s wimple, though today people frequently refer to the pastry as a “lobster tail,” “clam shell” or “eggplant.”   The resulting creation was hailed by the Abbess of the convent as one of the most delicious things she had tasted, so she determined that the treats should be shared with the outside world.

That being said, the nuns were forbidden to have contact with the outside world; part of their covenant with God was to stay cloistered at the Convent.  It is said that the only nuns who were allowed to have contact at the convent of Santa Croce di Lucca were those who were family members of a rich prince who donated large sums to the convent.  The recipe for making Sfogliatelle is supposed to have left the convent walls after one of these visits and travelled up and down the coast of Italy, growing in popularity and fame.

A completed tray of Sfogliatelle

Many variations of the Sfogliatelle now exist—some are smooth rather than having the many crunchy layers of the original recipe, some are filled with a sweet custard instead of the Ricotta we favor, and most recently, Italian chefs have begun using the Sfogliatelle shape and dough as a vehicle for many other savory applications—but we like to stick to Giuseppe’s original recipe from Naples and hold close to our traditional roots.  Next time you’re in the mood for a pastry to enjoy over your morning coffee, stop by and try one of our most popular treats!  (Or, if you’re out of town, you can click here to order some for shipping!)

Ready for shipping!

We hope your week has been fulfilling and that your weekend plans are filled with whatever it is you need to restore yourself.  Thank you for being a part of our lives.   We’re thinking of you!

Termini Brothers Bakery