Explore Italy Through These 5 Pastries
Behind Fiore's pastry counter, chef Justine MacNeil is serving up a delicious masterclass in Italian food history.
The sweet heritage behind Fiore’s Italian pastries / Photography by Clay Williams
Welcome to Philly’s Italian Renaissance. This week, we are diving deep into the evolution of our city’s Italian American food scene — from Marc Vetri, the godfather of this movement, to the chefs blending old-world traditions with their personal whims to create an entirely new cuisine. Check back daily for stories from Philly Mag’s November cover story.
For generations, Philly’s Italian American bakery scene has been best known for its Sicilian-rooted cannoli and pignoli cookies. But at Fiore, the Italian-inspired cafe in Kensington, co-owner and pastry chef Justine MacNeil fills the case with a dazzling display of less familiar regional Italian treats. Here are five favorites she wants you to taste.
Torta Sabbiosa
Lombardy/Veneto
This “sandy cake” swaps flour for potato starch, giving it a creamy, velvety texture that falls apart like fine sand. MacNeil first tried it at Franceschetta58, Massimo Bottura’s Modena osteria, where it came individually sized, like a cupcake. At Fiore, she bakes it large format instead, slicing portions from one whole cake.
Torta Caprese al Limone
Naples/Capri
Legend says a baker on Capri forgot the flour in his chocolate-almond cake before a visit from Al Capone, and the mistake became a marvel. MacNeil makes a newer riff, calling for white chocolate and lemon, which results in a lightly caramelized top and a fudgy-textured center.
Graffe Napoletane
Naples
MacNeil’s partner and husband Ed Crochet ate these yeasted doughnuts as a teenager when his family lived in Naples. They get their mochi-esque chew from the mashed potatoes incorporated into the dough, alongside citrus, rum, and vanilla. They’re then fermented for 24 hours before being fried and dipped in plain sugar. “It’s just a really special doughnut,” says MacNeil.
Pizzette
Rome/Turin
Born from leftover scraps of puff pastry, these savory little disks get topped with reduced tomato sauce and baked into “little baby pizzas,” says MacNeil. You can find them in bread shops, especially in Rome, and they’re a staple snack at aperitivo.
Crostata di Ricotta e Visciole
Roman Jewish tradition
A four-ingredient ricotta filling, made here with cow’s milk instead of the traditional sheep’s, sits over sour cherry jam MacNeil makes from local Pennsylvania fruit and under a woven lattice crust. It’s the chef’s lightly sweet, tart, and buttery nod to the old bakeries of Rome’s Jewish ghetto.
Published as “La Dolce Philly” in the November 2026 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
