Turkish Sweets

Maryam Ayres Author: Maryam Ayres Time for reading: ~9 minutes Last Updated: November 14, 2022
Turkish Sweets

The culture and traditions of Turkey are very rich, and confectionery is not left out. From the time of the Ottoman Empire to today, many traditional recipes of sweets have been preserved, with which even the Sultan was treated. It will not be enough to say that Turkish desserts are very diverse.

The culture and traditions of Turkey are very rich, and confectionery is not left out. From the time of the Ottoman Empire to today, many traditional recipes of sweets have been preserved , with which even the Sultan was treated. It will not be enough to say that Turkish desserts are very diverse.

Going on a trip to Istanbul or any other Turkish city, be prepared not only for the difficulty of choosing sweets , but also for training your willpower - because it is very difficult to refuse numerous types of baklava, lukum, künefe or kadaif.

 

 

Shakerpare

These sweets are very tasty almond cookies, which are decorated with whole nut kernels and generously poured with liquid sherbet or honey.

There are many recipes for this dessert , as the shekerpare tastes different in different outlets.

 

Kadaif

A special dessert dough in Turkey is called kadaif. Only men are engaged in its preparation. First, you need to knead the dough in a huge vat, and then make thin pieces of it, practically threads.

Desserts prepared on the basis of kadaif can differ in shape and filling. Walnuts and honey, as well as chopped almonds and thick sherbet are often wrapped in strips of dough.

The dough blanks with the filling are sent to the oven, and the result is a very delicate pastry that literally melts in the mouth.

 

Ekmek Kadaif

Another popular variety of kadaif is ekmek kadaif. It is a spongy dough (cake), soaked in sweet syrup, which makes the dessert very juicy and soft. Cakes are smeared with cream, and Turkish cream - kaymak - is added on top.

 

Jezerye

This is Turkish pastila. The basis of the sweets recipe is fruit puree. It is made thick, then rolled out in a thin layer and generously sprinkled with nut mass. After that, the mass is dried, rolled into rolls, cut into plates and layered. Sometimes the dish is seasoned with sugar for more sweetness, but more often it is left natural.

The most popular pastila is jezerye - delicate sweets made from nuts, pomegranate or carrot juice. The dessert is sprinkled with coconut shavings.

 

Regrets

Another of the most popular traditional sweets of Turkey . Cooking this dish is quite difficult.

From the outside , the dessert looks like ordinary cotton candy, and the taste is somewhat similar. But the structure of pishmaniye is more clear, like a ball of woolen threads. To prepare sweets , you need to boil sugar syrup for a long time, gradually adding fried wheat flour to it.

Some manufacturers can add vanilla, chopped pistachios or sesame seeds to the dish for a variety of taste.

 

Kunefe

A very delicate dessert that is served and eaten warm. When preparing sweets , the already familiar kadaif is used. Goat cheese is wrapped in thinly rolled dough, then sent to the oven and baked until golden. The finished dish is poured with a sweet syrup made from sugar, water and lemon juice.

Those for whom sugar syrup is too sweet replace it with honey. Syrup prepared on the basis of pine honey is considered a delicacy.

Immediately before serving, künefe is usually sprinkled with crushed nuts, sometimes ice cream is added. The dessert is eaten cold or warm.

 

Almond cake

Nougat in the traditional Turkish sense is divided into 2 types:

Nougat is soft, in the form of rolls.

This type of sweets is also called Turkish honey. This dessert is often confused with Turkish delight, but a characteristic feature of nougat is its incredible softness and chewiness. Sweets are often sprinkled with coconut shavings. Nuts are wrapped in a plastic sheet of nougat. Usually the dessert has a pleasant white color, but there are also chocolate varieties.

Helva - chewy, in the form of bars.

Because of the name, this dessert is confused with halva. Helva most often has a light cream color, sometimes - coffee, very rarely it is made fruity. The presence of a large number of nuts (usually pistachios) in sweets remains unchanged . Nuts act not only as decorations, but also as a filling.

 

Zucchini and quince tatlys

It is very difficult to guess the composition of this dessert from the first time, if you have never heard of it before. Kabak tatlys are very tasty sweets prepared on the basis of quince, pumpkin and sweet syrup. When serving the dish, walnuts, heavy cream (kaymak) or tahini (liquid halva) are often used. Sweet feet will be delighted.

 

Baklava

The word Baklava can be translated as Wrap. This name fully characterizes the appearance and method of preparation of the dessert .

First, take the dough and roll it out into a thin layer. The resulting workpiece is generously greased with butter, sprinkled with chopped nuts or other filling. Then the sheets of dough are stacked on top of each other, wrapped in a roll or laid out on a baking sheet in the form of a sheet cake, baked in the oven. The finished dish is poured with liquid sherbet, sugar syrup or honey.

There are many recipes for making baklava. Every region of Turkey has its own culinary secrets.

The main types of baklava:
  • Duryum (roll -shaped sweets of deep green color).

  • Chestnuts (chestnuts are used in the preparation).

  • Sade (baklava without nuts, but with butter cream).

  • Fendikles (hazelnuts are used in cooking).

  • Bul-bul avasi (another name is a nightingale's nest, due to its appearance).

  • Jezerye (walnuts are used in the preparation).

  • Syutlyu narie (layers of dough in this dessert are impregnated not with syrup, but with milk).

 

Marash dondurmasy - Marash ice cream

Having visited Turkey at least once, you will definitely see bright containers with colorful sweets almost everywhere . This dessert is called dondurma.

From the outside , the dessert is similar to ice cream, but the composition is somewhat different. In the preparation of dondurma, sugar, milk, a little mastic (resin from special mastic trees) and salep (grated orchid root) are used. The result is delicious sweets with a chewy consistency. The dessert does not spoil in the air for a long time and does not melt at high temperatures.

But this dish also has disadvantages. To enjoy it, you need to have the most important ingredient - orchid root flour. Because of this, wild orchid plantations in Turkey have drastically decreased today. It is forbidden to export flower flour, so it is almost impossible to taste real dondurma abroad.

 

Halva

Halva is known all over the world. But in Turkey , this dessert is special. There are 2 main types of sweets - sesame and semolina halva, semolina is more rare. According to Turkish tradition, halva is considered a memorial dish. It is usually prepared at home after the death of a relative.

Sesame halva is more popular. For its preparation, crushed sesame seeds are used, mixing it with some liquid ingredient to obtain a paste-like mass. After obtaining the desired consistency, sweet syrup and other components according to the recipe are added to the dish.

Halva can be plain (without additives), chocolate (with cocoa), with hazelnut, walnut, with caramel, etc. These sweets are very common.

 

Lokma

This is a sweet dessert made of flour in the form of small balls, which are generously soaked in honey or sugar syrup. Often, appetizing balls are sprinkled with chopped walnuts or cinnamon.

 

Tulumba

These sweets are made in the form of small oblong tubes that are empty inside. To prepare the dish, custard dough is used, which must be properly fried until crispy. The standard length of the tulumba is about 8 cm, but there are options up to 4 cm.

Different ingredients are used to sprinkle the dessert , and its cost depends on it. The highest price is pistachio tulumba, and the lowest price is a dessert covered with sugar syrup.

Tulumba, like lokma, are street sweets that are often sold at fairs and squares.

 

Rahat lokum

One of the most famous oriental desserts is Turkish delight. It is he who is mentioned in many magical tales. These sweets have many varieties.

Rahat lukum is popular not only in Turkey , but also abroad, as there are special quality standards for exported sweets .

A dish is prepared from sugar with the addition of starch. The base is boiled for a long time to a spongy consistency - if you press a piece of Turkish Delight with your finger, and then let go - the dessert will very quickly take its original shape.

Rahat loukum can be classic, without any additives, or it can be nut, fruit, fig, honey, rose ( dessert contains tryand petals).

 

Revani

This dessert was named after the famous Turkish poet Revani, who became famous during the Ottoman Empire. Revani talked about the rules and laws of the state, comparing them to a sweet cake. That is why his name was immortalized in the name of sweets , which is still popular.

Revani is prepared on the basis of durum wheat flour. First, the dough is kneaded from flour, sugar, water and eggs, baked in the oven, and then generously poured with sweet syrup with the addition of lemon juice. Mint leaves, coconut shavings or nuts are used to decorate the dish.

 

Kazandibi

The appearance of the popular Turkish dessert , prepared on the basis of milk, may cause some questions, but its taste is simply extraordinary.

It is quite difficult to prepare kazandibi on your own. Only skilled Turkish cooks know the secret of how to properly remove a dish from the pan. A second of delay - and it will be impossible to tear the kazandibi from the bottom of the pan.

The main ingredients in the classic recipe are rice flour, sugar, milk and starch. And honey or liquid sherbet is used as a sweet filling.

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