The Hard-To-Pronounce Trader Joe's Pastry Fans Can't Get Enough Of

One of the best things about the rotating inventory at Trader Joe's is the many international treats that make their to the neighborhood grocery store. Whether it's crackers inspired by a German snack or a lineup of Asian-inspired frozen dinners, Trader Joe's is one of the best places for cosmopolitan diners to indulge. One of the latest additions to this stocked roster originally hails from southern Italy.

In April, Trader Joe's launched a frozen dessert called sfogliatella (pronounced sfoh-lee-ah-TELL-a). Fans on the Trader Joe's subreddit are calling this treat one of the best things they've had from the store. The pastry is a cone-shaped, multi-layered dessert filled with ricotta and candied oranges. There are four pastries in every box, and they sell for $4.49.

Trader Joe's says this dessert was inspired by the success of its eggplant parmigiana sfogliatella. This uses the same pastry dough but with a sweeter filling.

Sfogliatelle is a pastry that can be found in bakeries and cafes throughout Italy but supposedly originated in the Santa Rosa monastery outside of Naples in the 1700s. Today, there are two main styles of sfogliatelle available; sfogliatelle frolla is the simpler of the two. It doesn't bear the same layered exterior of the dessert at Trader Joe's because it's made from a shortcrust that is more similar to a pie dough than a pastry.

The other style of sfogliatelle, sfogliatelle riccia, is made by rolling out thin sheets of dough, coating them in lard or butter, and rolling several of them together. When the dough is baked, it develops the overlapping ridges that have earned this dessert the nickname "lobster tail."

It's common to fill sfogliatelle with whipped cream, almond paste, or candied fruit, topping it with a dusting of powdered sugar to complete the presentation. 

One of the only downsides about these limited-time frozen desserts is that you'll have to wait for them to reheat before you can get your hands on them. Sfogliatelle are best enjoyed straight from the oven, but it takes as long as 45 minutes for this frozen version to be ready. 

Trader Joe's recommends reheating the sfogliatelle in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-45 minutes. (Don't forget to coat the baking sheet with some oil to keep the pastries from sticking. The last thing you want is to have the molten ricotta spilling out because of stuck pastries.)

As with many foods from Trader Joe's, these sweet treats can also be reheated in an air fryer. A quick 30 minutes in the air fryer at 350 will get them to the perfect deep brown you'd expect from a proper Italian bakery.