This is the story of Sfogliatella Santarosa whose name comes from the convent where it was born. It is situated on a cliff between Furore and Conca dei Marini and today is a wonderful hotel.

The cone-shaped Santarosa sfogliatella reminds the typical monk’s cowl, with its delicious filling of custard and black cherries. It was born by chance and for necessity to avoid wasting the lunch leftovers and to try to use the very few ingredients in the sideboard because wasting food is a sin.

According to tradition, the sfogliatella took form from two leftovers. It was the day of bread cooking and some dough exceeded. So the chef nun decided to enrich it with some lard, white wine and some semolina cooked with milk that had been served for lunch, and she used it to prepare custard just adding some sugar, lemon liqueur and some dried fruits.

Thanks to the “elbow grease” to knead the puff pastry and the skilful choice of simple but tasty ingredients, the Santarosa sfogliatelle took form and they were cooked in a wood-burning oven. Their smell won over the Mother Superior who foresaw that the Santarosa would have had fortune and success among the Conca dei Marini inhabitants.

Soon the Santarosa sfogliatelle were put on sale and to protect the enclosed order, the inhabitants put their money into the typical “wheel” of the churches increasing the funds of the church and, at the same time, offering a sweet break to the farmers and making families’ tables sweeter.

During the centuries the Santarosa recipe has gone beyond Salerno borders to Naples and it has been enriched with new ingredients and new shapes: from the sfogliatella riccia (curly), very similar to the Santarosa but flatter and filled with ricotta, to the frolla one, round and very crumbly.

We still have custard and black cherry on our fingers at the time we’re writing and the temptation to eat our friends’ Santarosa is too strong. And you, which one do you prefer, the curly one, the frolla one or the one made in the Amalfi Coast?