Got a sweet tooth? Here’s a list of some of the most popular and delicious desserts you should try while visiting Turkey! 1) Lokum (Turkish Delight) The renowned chewy sweets, Turkish delights, also known as
Got a sweet tooth? Here’s a list of some of the most popular and delicious desserts you should try while visiting Turkey!
1) Lokum (Turkish Delight)
The renowned chewy sweets, Turkish delights, also known as lokum or rahat lokum are probably the most famous desserts in Turkey. This sweet treat made of starch and sugar was originally prepared in 3 flavors, namely red-rosewater, green-bitter orange, and yellow-lemon peel. However, with the abundant ingredients available today, they are now made of diverse flavors and textures, including pistachio, mint, cinnamon, peach, coconut, apricot, coffee, and hazelnut. These colorful jelly-like sweets are usually served along the plain, medium, or sweet Turkish coffee.
2) Salep Dondurma
Salep Dondurma, or the Maras ice cream, is a favorite savored by many locals. This Turkish mastic ice cream is made of cream, whipped cream, salep (flour made from ground-up tubers of orchids), mastic (resin), and sugar. Salep Dondurma comes in various flavors, including sade, which is plain ice cream, hazelnut, pistachio, and different fruit flavors. This taffy-like Turkish ice cream has a unique consistency and taste. It has a dense and stretchy texture, which makes it resistant to melting. The sweet delicacy also has a hint of savoriness and a piney scent. Cooling, sweet and delicious, salep dondurma should be on the top of your list of desserts to try if you’re an ice cream fan!
3) Sütlaç
Sütlaç is the Turkish version of rice pudding. It is prepared using rice, sugar, milk, and rice flour. This yummy pudding is traditionally prepared in a small clay dessert cup. The dessert is firstly cooked on a stove and then baked until brown on the surface. Despite being a light treat served with sprinkled cinnamon on top, sütlaç can be very filling and tasty. The secret lies in the fresh and unpasteurized milk used to make the dessert. It will definitely be one of your favorites!
4) Tavuk Göğsü
Tavuk Göğsü is the signature dessert of Turkey. This thick pudding is made of shredded chicken breast, sugar, rice flour, and milk. Strange as it may seem, the pudding doesn’t taste like chicken at all. The milky-sweet delicacy is often served with sprinkled cinnamon and dondurma ice cream. Tavuk Göğsü is not too far from a rice pudding in taste with a thicker texture and the ever-so-subtle taste of chicken.
5) Pişmaniye
Pişmaniye, also known as fairy floss or string lava, is a Turkish sweet made of sugar, butter, and flour. Although pişmaniye resembles cotton candy with its fine strands, it has a different flavor and texture. They have a buttery taste and are often garnished with pistachios. No wonder people are always queued up outside shops to try some pişmaniye, they are so addictive!
6) Revani
Also called Babousa, Revani is a type of sponge cake made out of semolina batter and soaked in sweetened rose water or orange flower syrup. The cake is moist with a nutty texture and a refreshing lemony flavor. They are often cut in diamond or square shapes and served with desiccated coconut and ground pistachio on top.
7) Keşkül
Keşkül is an almond-based custard made of corn starch, milk, eggs, vanilla, and flour. The sweet dessert is usually served well-chilled in small bowls after meals, especially during hot summers. They are also topped with almonds, ground pistachios, or desiccated coconut.
8) Turkish Trileçe (Tres Leches)
Trileçe is the Turkish version of the famous Latin three milk cake, tres leche. This buttery cake is soaked in three types of milk, namely, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream. The cake is cut to serving-sized squares and served cold with caramel toppings.
9) Ayva tatlısı
Ayva tatlısı is a classic and traditional Turkish treat prepared using quince. The dessert is usually made in winter as the seasonal fruit is mostly available from October to early January. It is traditionally served with a scoop of kaymak, a creamy dairy product made from the milk water of buffalos, sheep, cows, or goats and sprinkled with crushed walnuts or pistachios. Once you taste it, you will want more of this delightful Turkish sweet!
10) Sekerpare
Sekerpares are small semolina cakes coated in sugar syrup. These moist cookies are served as an after-dinner sweet, dipped in lemony syrup, or can also be enjoyed along with a nice, warm cup of coffee. Soft and tender, these sweet delicacies simply melt in the mouth! The more syrup it soaks up, the better it tastes. The dessert is sold in nearly every Turkish restaurants and shops.
While you can prepare some of these delicacies at home, nothing compares to having them straight from the vendors. Moreover, sweets and desserts are not the only things the country has to offer. Your culinary journey awaits you!