Naples – Italian Regional Desserts: Sfogliatella & Babà al Rum
- Diana Ravese
- May 30
- 3 min read
A Sweet Start in the City of Sun and Sugar
Where crackly pastry meets boozy sponge, and every bite comes with a side of Neapolitan drama.
If desserts had personalities, Naples would be the one belting out opera in the middle of a crowded piazza — unapologetic, theatrical, and completely irresistible. It’s a city that takes its sweets seriously, with a flair that says “Yes, this pastry is stuffed with ricotta, citrus peel, and dreams. Why do you ask?”
Welcome to the first part of our deep-dish dive into Italy’s most iconic regional desserts. And we’re starting where the sugar hits hardest: Naples.
Because really — what better place to begin than a city where your morning coffee comes with a side of rum-soaked cake and flaky pastry that sounds like a paper bag being crumpled (in the best possible way)? This is the start of a great day when exploring Italian regional desserts.
Sfogliatella: The Pastry That Crunches Like a Conversation in a Naples Café
It comes in two main versions:
Riccia: the classic shell-shaped, multilayered version that looks like a pastry fossil and crunches like you’re stepping on fall leaves.
Frolla: a shortcrust version, smooth and round, like its more introverted cousin.
Both are filled with a creamy mixture of ricotta, semolina, candied citrus, cinnamon, and a hint of orange blossom water. In other words, everything good in life, sealed inside golden dough.
These aren’t just breakfast pastries—they’re a commitment. They flake, they fall apart, they demand a napkin (or five), and they will cover your shirt in pastry shrapnel. But they’re worth it.
Where to try it in Naples:
Babà al Rum: Proof That Sponge Cake and Alcohol Were Meant to Be Together
Enter the babà. Tall, glossy, and utterly soaked in rum syrup, this sponge cake is the Neapolitan answer to “What if dessert were just… sponge and booze?”
Originally from Poland (believe it or not), the babà found its true home in Naples, where it was adopted, adapted, and made about ten times more dramatic.
A classic babà is:
Light and airy inside
Dark and caramelized outside
Drenched (and we mean drenched) in a rum-laced syrup
You’ll often find them garnished with whipped cream, fruit, or even filled with pastry cream, because Naples believes restraint is for other cities.
Pro tip: Some bakeries sell mini babà in jars of rum syrup — great for gifts, terrible for TSA.
Where to try it in Naples:
Sweet Origins & Sticky Legends
Locals will tell you that sfogliatella was born in a convent (because of course), when a resourceful nun combined leftover semolina with ricotta and citrus peel. A miracle? Maybe.
As for the babà, its journey from Poland to France to Naples is a long one. Legend says a Polish king with dental issues dunked his dry cake in alcohol—and voilà! The rest is sticky history.
Naples didn’t invent either dessert, but it perfected them—with flair, flour, and a whole lot of sugar syrup.
Final Bite: A Love Letter (with Crumbs)
To eat dessert in Naples is to understand the city itself: layered, loud, joyful, and not at all worried about being “too much.”And frankly? We love that.
Whether you're wandering Spaccanapoli with powdered sugar on your sleeve or sitting seaside with a babà that threatens to collapse under its own rum content, Naples makes sure your sweet tooth gets the respect it deserves.
Coming Soon: The Recipe Files
At the end of this series, I’ll be sharing authentic recipes for every dessert we cover—including the flakiest sfogliatella and the most gloriously soaked babà. Fair warning: you'll need patience, passion… and a mop for the rum syrup.
Next stop: Amalfi—where lemons become magic. But first, another espresso. And maybe just one more babà. (Okay, two.)
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