Can You Freeze Sfogliatelle?

3 minutes

Sfogliatelle are a true Italian pastry delight made up of lots and lots of crisp layers with a creamy filling. But, they’re a treat. If you’ve got a few too many then how should you store them?

How to Freeze Sfogliatelle

Freezing sfogliatelle isn’t too hard, but we advise taking your time and doing it right. The pastry can be terribly delicate, and it would be a shame to damage it.

1. Cool: Make sure that each individual pastry is cooled, as that will help ensure that the sfogliatelle doesn’t develop condensation within their small packaging. Since the pastry is so thin, a small amount of condensation can have a significant impact.
2. Wrap: Wrap each pastry individually to ensure that they don’t stick to one another in the freezer. This is another side effect of the pastry being so thin – they cannot be stored too closely, or they may begin to stick together.
3. Bag Up: Optionally, pop all the sfogliatelle into a bag or rigid plastic container. This is more to protect them from damage and to keep them all in one place.
4. Freeze: Freeze the pastries in the centre of the freezer, where they’ll be as far as possible from the frost front that can damage them. The thin pastry will undoubtedly thank you later – freezer burn would utterly destroy it.

3 Tips for Freezing Sfogliatelle

Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing sfogliatelle to have the best results:

Use a Rigid Container
A rigid container has a simple benefit over cling film – it is less likely to get damaged or crushed. Therefore, it might be worth placing the sfogliatelle into a rigid container to ensure they’re protected a little better. 

Label Clearly
If you have frozen multiple batches of sfogliatelle with different fillings, such as chocolate or pistachio, then ensure you include a clear label that outlines what they are, when they need to be used and any fillings.

Avoid Moisture
The thin, crispy pastry will not be anywhere near as thin and crispy as it once was after exposure to moisture, which certainly wouldn’t be ideal. 

How Long Can You Freeze Sfogliatelle?

You can freeze sfogliatelle for around 1 month before they start to lose texture.

The filling should be fine after that time period, but the pastry might become softer, and chewy.

This is due to the sfogliatelle taking on moisture during its time in the freezer, so ensure that the bag or cling film forms an excellent seal to make sure that the moisture is kept as far from the pastry as possible.

How Do You Defrost Sfogliatelle?

The simplest way to defrost sfogliatelle is to keep them totally wrapped up, and then to place them on the counter.

Do not open them until they’re totally thawed, or the cold will cause condensation to form directly on the surface of the sfogliatelle, which would lead to textural damage.

Can You Refreeze Sfogliatelle?

Technically, yes, you can refreeze sfogliatelle.

However, we would certainly advise against it – whenever you refreeze bread or pastry, it loses texture with each refreezing process.

Ensure that the sfogliatelle doesn’t lose texture by only thawing the ones you intend to eat.

Do Sfogliatelle Freeze Well?

Yes, sfogliatelle does freeze well. The main reason for this is that it’s very possible to keep them separate from moisture in your freezer, so they can be stored without becoming mushy.

If you don’t store them correctly, they can lose texture quite dramatically, making a much worse final pastry.

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing sfogliatelle or sfogliatelle in general, then these may help: