Maria’s Pastry Shop

Posted by Edmund in Bakeries & Sweets, Boston, Featured Articles | 1 comment

Cuisine: Italian Bakery.
Specialty: Cannoli.
Location: 46 Cross Street, Boston, MA 02113-2201.
Price: $3 for a Cannoli.

Having visited the two grandmasters of the Boston cannoli (Mike’s and Modern Pastry), I was left just a bit unsatisfied. While both served up huge, amazingly decadent, downright scrumptious cannolis, I just couldn’t escape the feeling that something wasn’t right. I still felt as though I was eating mass-produced, greasy treats, and I was looking for a more authentic experience.

So I continued my search, visiting a few more of the local bakeries in the North End. My next stop was Maria’s. While Mike’s and Modern had, according to some of the reviews I read, sold out a long time ago, here was a shop that had kept to its roots.

That’s exactly how I felt, anyway, as I walked into the shop. While there were still a few of the more touristy decorations (do you really need flamboyant paper wrapping in the display case?), it was much more low-key. Mike’s had been a colossus of a storefront, sporting an almost café-like, American appeal, while Modern had been flashy all-around, with countless multi-colored treat baskets hanging from the walls. Maria’s Pastry, on the other hand, was almost barren.

That’s not to say it was nice, per se. In fact, I found it bland as could be. It did, however, have a much more real feel to it. I even got to order from the owner herself, an all-business, no-nonsense old lady. Just by looking at her, I could tell that there was a good chance this cannoli would stand out, and—dare I say it!—even surpass the two grandmasters.

Unfortunately…I hoped a little bit too soon. As I’ve learned time and time again, looks can be deceiving, and it was the same with Maria’s cannoli, which, while great, wasn’t a home run at all.

I ordered just one variety, a plain ricotta cannoli, with no toppings in the cream or flavoring in the shell. I took a large bite, letting the ricotta cream ooze all over. If one thing really stood out in this sucker, it would be that cream, which was excellent. That’s saying a lot, since I didn’t care much for the texture. The ricotta curds weren’t integrated too smoothly into the cream, leaving it rather gritty. This could very well be a personal baking choice by Maria, but whatever the reason, it feels as though the cheese has coagulated a bit and formed into globs. This is, however, more than forgivable because unlike some of the other cannolis, including Mike’s, Maria’s cannoli has managed to maintain an extremely thick, custard-like creaminess without the excessive sweetness. It’s a very balanced cream, and one in which the ricotta takes center stage.

So where’s the problem? Well, it’s in the shell, which doesn’t live up to that of Mike’s or Modern’s. The shell is far too flaky and delicate, so that you bite it once and it just crumbles apart, interfering with the creaminess of the ricotta as the broken fragments of the shell leave an even more intense, very unsatisfying grittiness.

Moreover, the dough doesn’t have too much flavor of its own, so that what you taste really is just a lump of fried dough. The powdered sugar topping the shell is a bit excessive, too, but it really needs to be there to add the necessary sweetness, since the dough is bland and the cream isn’t very sweet.

Overall, then, this is still a delicious cannoli by normal standards, but it doesn’t have the technical excellence necessary to elevate it to the standards of its competitors just a few blocks away.

Scores

Taste: 3.7/5.0
Value: 3.5/5.0.
Overall: 3.6/5.0