Christmas is a serious celebration in southern Italy, especially in Napoli. Some traditions, such as the Christmas dinner and tombola, must be followed by Neapolitans. Even Neapolitan cribs, whose heart is in San Gregorio Armeno, are part of a centuries-old tradition.

A good Neapolitan Christmas lunch or dinner always ends with delicious desserts, which are not limited to Pandoro and Panettone like everywhere else in Italian Christmas. In fact, nuns gave a big contribution to Neapolitan patisserie during the centuries. They used to prepare sweets for Neapolitan aristocratic families.

Many desserts can be considered as a transposition of pagan rites into Christianity. Considering the ingredients, you can see that they are the same as pagan desserts for some celebrations. Some others are similar to Sicilian patisserie instead because both Napoli and Sicily belonged to the same Kingdom.

Neapolitan patisserie at Christmas is very sumptuous and varied, which gives evidence of how important is this celebration for Neapolitans. Below, you will find some typical Neapolitan Christmas desserts, such as mostaccioli, struffoli, and roccocò.

Mostaccioli

Mostaccioli are the kings of Neapolitan Christmas desserts. Initially, in the recipe, you could also find must, but it later evolved into what we know nowadays. They consist of a dough of water, flour, sugar, and pisto, a mix of spices such as cinnamon and clove. It is basically a cookie covered in chocolate, hard on the outside and soft on the inside.

They have a very long history, their first evidence dates back to the XVI century.

Roccocò

Roccocò can be considered as the second king of Neapolitan Christmas along with mostaccioli. They were first made by the nuns of Real Convento Della Maddalena in 1300. They consist of hard donuts, which are made with water, flour, sugar, pisto, orange zest, and almonds.

This dessert's name shares the root with the artistic movement. They both come from rocaille, a French word that indicates a decoration with the shape of a shell.

Struffoli

Struffoli are some Neapolitan Christmas sweets that are famous all over Italy. Their origin dates back to the Greek period, like the name that could indicate some strips. Struffoli are deep-fried dough balls that are covered with hot honey and candied orange. While in Napoli they are mainly eaten at Christmas, in other parts of Italy they spread during other periods.

Divino amore

The pastry of Divino Amore was born in the homonymous monastery, like a gift from the nuns to the mother of Charles I Anjou. They have the shape of little eggs made with almond paste and covered with apricot jam or icing sugar.

Raffiuoli

Raffiuoli are a sweet variant of ravioli from Northern Italy. They've been imported by the nuns of the monastery of San Gregorio and revisited. They also have an oval shape, and they're made of sponge cake covered in marzipan or jam.

Susamielli

Susamielli, also called Susamielli of the right path are biscuits made with sesame, flour, almonds, and honey. The word "susamielli" comes probably from the sesame with which they're made.

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