Susamielli e Raffiuoli

Name: Susamielli e Raffiuoli
Cuisine: Campanian
Ingredients: Susamielli: almond flour · honey · candied orange peel · flour · sugar · cinnamon · cloves; Always S-shaped, deep brown, firm, intensely aromatic; Raffiuoli: eggs · flour · sugar · lemon zest · white sugar glaze; Soft, light, oval, brilliant white — optional apricot jam filling; Variations: raffiuolo glassato (plain glaze) · con marmellata (jam heart) · chocolate-coated pastry-shop versions; Serve susamielli with dessert wine; raffiuoli with coffee

The two elders of the Neapolitan Christmas tray — the medieval S-shaped spice cookie and the white-glazed convent sponge. Over three hundred years of December between them.

Susamielli and raffiuoli — S-shaped almond spice cookies and white-glazed oval sponge cakes on a Christmas table

Every Neapolitan Christmas tray tells a story, and these are two of its oldest chapters. Next to the struffoli, the mostaccioli and the roccocò, two shapes always appeared: a dark, hard S studded with almonds, and a soft white-glazed oval with a candied cherry on top. The susamiello and the raffiuolo — over three hundred years of tradition between them, and two completely opposite ideas of what a Christmas sweet should be.

The susamiello is the elder, born in convent kitchens and medieval Naples; the name likely points back to sesame seeds or ancient honey cakes, though modern versions rarely contain sesame at all. What they do contain is the whole spice cabinet of a Neapolitan December: almond flour, honey, candied orange peel, cinnamon, cloves. Always S-shaped, always deep brown, always firm — the kind of cookie that is honestly better a few days after baking, and that demands a glass of dessert wine the way roccocò demands strong teeth.

Two opposite ideas of Christmas on one tray: the medieval spice cookie, rustic and firm — and the convent sponge, soft, white and elegant.

The raffiuolo is its elegant counterpart: a soft, light sponge of eggs, flour, sugar and lemon zest, shaped into an oval and covered with a brilliant white sugar glaze — sometimes hiding a heart of apricot jam (raffiuolo con marmellata), sometimes dressed by the pastry shops in chocolate. Where the susamiello is rustic and keeps for weeks, the raffiuolo must stay soft and moist, its glaze bright white, and it pairs with coffee rather than wine. Same tray, opposite temperaments — which is, of course, the whole point of a Neapolitan Christmas tray: there has to be something for every relative.

Tray etiquette

Susamielli: let them rest several days — they are meant to be firm, and they bloom with dessert wine. Raffiuoli: the opposite — soft, moist, glaze gleaming white, eaten with coffee. If both are at their best on the same afternoon, somebody planned the baking calendar well.

Why does one keep for weeks and the other go stale fast?

The two sweets are a study in opposite preservation strategies. The susamiello is built like a medieval food technology: honey is hygroscopic and antimicrobial, the dough is low in moisture, and the spices — cinnamaldehyde, eugenol — have genuine antibacterial activity, which is why spiced honey cookies were the sweets that could survive weeks of a pre-refrigeration December. The raffiuolo takes the opposite bet: a high-egg sponge holds moisture in a delicate protein foam, and its sugar glaze acts as a humidity barrier slowing the staling of the crumb beneath. One sweet engineered to last, one engineered to be perishable and perfect — both from kitchens that knew exactly what they were doing, centuries before anyone wrote down why.

Susamielli e Raffiuoli — infographic, Mediterranean Notes by Giuseppe Astarita

Susamielli & Raffiuoli — two historic Christmas sweets of Campania compared, side by side.

Two Sweets, Side by Side

Two sweets, one tray — how to know and serve them

Susamielli: almond flour · honey · candied orange peel · flour · sugar · cinnamon · cloves
Always S-shaped, deep brown, firm, intensely aromatic
Raffiuoli: eggs · flour · sugar · lemon zest · white sugar glaze
Soft, light, oval, brilliant white — optional apricot jam filling
Variations: raffiuolo glassato (plain glaze) · con marmellata (jam heart) · chocolate-coated pastry-shop versions
Serve susamielli with dessert wine; raffiuoli with coffee

Susamielli: work honey, sugar and spices into the flours with the candied peel until you have a firm, fragrant dough.

Shape into the classic S — the one non-negotiable feature — and bake until deep brown and set.

The S is the signature; a susamiello in any other shape is just a spice cookie with no papers.

Let them rest several days before serving — they are meant to be firm and only improve with time.

Raffiuoli: beat eggs and sugar into a light foam, fold in flour and lemon zest, and pipe or shape into ovals; bake until just golden.

Sandwich with apricot jam if you’re making the filled version, then coat with a white sugar glaze.

The glaze must be bright white and the crumb must stay moist — a dry raffiuolo has failed at its one job.

Top each with a candied cherry, let the glaze set, and arrange both sweets on the tray with the struffoli, mostaccioli and roccocò.

For generations these have been handmade through the Christmas season, filling kitchens with honey, almond, citrus and spice. Among the oldest chapters of the Neapolitan Christmas story — the rustic S and the elegant oval, side by side on every tray, including ours.