What Neapolitan pastry is shaped like a lobster tail and filled with ricotta?

The Neapolitan pastry shaped like a lobster tail and filled with ricotta is sfogliatella. Its name refers to the pastry’s many thin, flaky layers, which create a distinctive ridged or shell-like shape.

Sfogliatella originated in the Campania region and is strongly associated with Naples. The classic variety, sfogliatella riccia, uses laminated dough folded into numerous layers. A softer version, sfogliatella frolla, is made with shortcrust-style pastry and has a smoother exterior. Fillings commonly combine ricotta with sugar, semolina, candied citrus peel, and cinnamon.

The “lobster tail” description can cause confusion because American bakeries also sell a related pastry called a lobster tail, often made as a large, elongated sfogliatella and filled with cream. Babà is a rum-soaked yeast cake, zeppole are fried or baked dough pastries, and cannoli are crisp tubes filled after baking; none has sfogliatella’s layered shell structure.