This is a list of desserts from Turkish cuisine.
Name of dessert | Image | Type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Acıbadem kurabiyesi | ![]() |
Biscuit | Almond biscuits made from bitter almonds or bitter almond syrup. Well established in Edirne. |
Akide şekeri | Candy | Basic ingredients of it are sugar, starch and water. Made by boiling the ingredients until they reach the desired concentration. Optionally, different flavors can be added. | |
Alaçatı kurabiyesi | ![]() |
Cookie | Non-dairy Cookie that is flavored with mastic flavor. Alaçatı is a neighborhood of İzmir, the area where this cookie originated from. |
Aşure | Pudding | Sweet pudding that is made of a mixture consisting of various types of grains, fresh and dried fruits, and nuts. | |
Ay çöreği | Pastry | Crescent shaped dough filled with crumbles of cocoa cake, cinnamon, walnut, hazelnut and raisin. | |
Ayva tatlısı | ![]() |
Fruit | A fruit-based dessert made with quince Originating in the city of Bursa. |
Badem ezmesi | Nuts | Marzipan | |
Bağdat hurma tatlısı | ![]() |
Fried dough dessert | Pastry dessert consisting of flour, sugar, egg, yogurt and 10 kind of spices. Served with grated coconut. |
Baklava | ![]() |
Phyllo pastry | A type of phyllo pastry filled with finely chopped nuts and soaked in sharbat syrup. |
Bağaça | ![]() |
Tahini cake | Bağaça is a kind of tahini cake originated from Antalya. Ingredient in use are flour, butter, sugar, tahini, sesame seeds, pine, rosin, chickpea yeast, and cinnamon. |
Bici bici | ![]() |
Non-dairy ice | A shaved ice dessert, sweetened with powdered sugar and a red fruit or flower syrup. Additional toppings are added, usually fruits. Originating in the city of Adana. Although the taste is different, due to the use of different toppings and syrup, it is very similar to Korea's Bingsu |
Biga peynir tatlısı | Pastry | Made of unsalted cheese, dough of flour, egg, water and baking powder | |
Cezerye | ![]() |
Candy | Turkish gelatinous sweet made from caramelised carrots, shredded coconut and roasted nuts |
Cevizli sucuk | ![]() |
Candy | Walnuts lined on a strand coated in thickened grape or mulberry juice and dried to resemble sausages |
Demir tatlısı | Fried batter | Fried cookie made with an iron mold | |
Dilber dudağı | Pastry | Buttery pastry soaked in sharbat syrup. | |
Dondurma or Maraş dondurması | ![]() |
Ice cream | Traditional Turkish ice cream famous for its sellers joking around with customers. The most traditional taste is called Damla sakızı, or, in a literal translation ‘Gummy Drops’. In the Greek society it's known as the ‘Tears of Chios’. Both refer to the mastic taste obtained from the mastic tree. This ice cream originated in the city of Kahramanmaraş, hence the name ‘Maraş ice cream’. |
Ekmek kadayıfı | ![]() |
Pastry | The bread or sponge cake dough is mixed with pistachios and hazelnuts before being baked. Then, it will be drenched in a sweet sharbat syrup and served with fresh clotted cream. Originating in the city of Afyonkarahisar |
Fıstıklı dürüm | Baklava | A kind of rolled, green baklava made with very thin layers of philo dough and thick layers of pistachio | |
Gaziler helvası | Halva | A type of almond helva from Edirne which has benn traditionally served on special occasions | |
Görele dondurması | Ice cream | Type of ice cream specific to Giresun. Its distinguishing ingredients are licorice root extract and salep. | |
Güllaç | ![]() |
Dairy, fruit | Consists of milk, rose water and a kind of special very thin dough also called güllaç. Optionally, it can be served with some fruits like pomegranate and nuts on top. It is said that it was first made in the Ottoman palace's kitchen by Chef cook Ali from Kastamonu in 1489. |
Halka tatlısı | Type of pastry fried in oil and sweetened with sharbat syrup. | ||
Hanım göbeği | ![]() |
Pastry | Deep fried choux pastry balls soaked in simple syrup |
Hayrabolu tatlısı | Pastry | Fried pastry originating from Hayrabolu made from cheese and semolina, decorated with tahin and hazelnuts. It resembles the Kemalpaşa tatlısı and Biga peynir tatlısı | |
Helatiye | ![]() |
Pudding | |
Hoşaf | ![]() |
Fruit | Stewed dried fruits optionally spiced with cloves or cinnamon, may be served cold over rice |
Hoşmerim | ![]() |
Halva | Also called cheese halvah, homemade hoşmerim is made from cheese, semolina and powdered sugar and often served with ice cream, honey or nuts. It has originated in the region of Marmara, with Balıkesir being the most known for it. |
İncir uyuşturması or İncir uyutması, or, 'bring the figs to sleep' | Dairy, fruit | Dairy dessert made from dried figs, cow milk, goat milk and sugar. From the city of İzmir. | |
İrmik helvası | ![]() |
Halva | Type of halva consisting of semolina, milk, butter and sugar. Also pine nut is generally added. |
İzmir bombası (Bomb of İzmir or İzmir bomb) | ![]() |
Praline stuffed cookies/kurabiye | Cookies filled with chocolate spread that leave a bomb of chocolatey explosions in your mouth. Originated in the Aegean city of İzmir. |
Kabak tatlısı | ![]() |
Fruit | Candied pumpkin garnished with walnuts and fresh kaymak cream (sometimes) (also sometimes topped with tahin). |
Kadayıf | ![]() |
Shredded phyllo pastry | Made with tel kadayıf. Sweetened with sharbat. |
Kadayıf dolması | Shredded phyllo pastry | Tel kadayıf with walnut wrapped in it coated in egg and milk, fried and soaked in sharbat syrup. | |
Kalburabastı | Pastry | Syrup-drenched pastries often served during the Islamic holidays | |
Katmer | Phyllo pastry | Flaky pastry similar to baklava. Its filling consists of kaymak (sort of creamy dairy product), pistachio, sugar. | |
Kaysefe | Fruit | Stewed dried fruits topped with melted butter and chopped nuts | |
Kazandibi | ![]() |
Pudding | Caramelized version of tavuk göğsü |
Kemalpaşa tatlısı | ![]() |
Pastry | |
Kestane şekeri | Candy | Chestnut candied in sugar syrup. (Marron glacé) | |
Keşkül | ![]() |
Pudding | Almond based milk pudding |
Kireçte kabak tatlısı | Fruit | Pumpkin pieces soaked in lime water for a long time; by this process, it has cruncy and candy like texture. After this process, they are boiled in sharbat syrup. Served with tahini. | |
Komposto | ![]() |
Fruit | Fresh fruit compote |
Künefe | ![]() |
Shredded phyllo pastry | Tel kadayıf dough filled with a layer of cheese and soaked in sharbat syrup. |
Laz böreği | Phyllo pastry | Consists of thin phyllo dough, butter, muhallebi, black pepper and simple syrup. | |
Lokma | Fried dough dessert | Leavened, deep fried dough soaked in sharbat syrup and topped with coconut powder, cinnamon powder, pistachio or hazelnut powder, chocolate sauce, fruits or other toppings. Traditionally, this dessert doesn't use toppings. Very common in Aegean cities such as İzmir or Ayvalık. | |
Lokum | ![]() |
Candy | In the English speaking world it is known as “Turkish delight”. It is eaten together with Turkish coffee to compensate the strong taste. |
Lor tatlısı | ![]() |
Pastry | This sweet pastry is made from whey cheese and usually served with mastic flavored traditional Turkish ice cream. It is a local specialty dessert from the coastal town Ayvalık in the Aegean region of Turkey. |
Luzine | Halva | Produced using semolina, white sugar, wheat flour, walnut kernels, and water. | |
Macun | ![]() |
Fluid candy | Turkish toffee candy, that is not hard but soft and is stretched over a stick and eaten like a Lollipop. |
Met helvası | Halva | Compact and cylinder like shaped version of pişmaniye. | |
Muhallebi | ![]() |
Pudding, dairy | Milk pudding |
Muska pestili | Fruit and nuts | Triangle shaped pestil filled with hazelnut pastry or any other nuts. | |
Nevzine | Cake | Made with tahini, pekmez and walnut | |
Orcik candy | Candy | Candy coated walnut and fermented grape juice mixture | |
Pekmez | ![]() |
Syrup | Traditionally prepared molasses syrup, usually made from grapes. A great substitute for honey |
Pepeçura | Mousse | Isabella grape must thickened with corn flour and / or corn starch and mixed with sugar | |
Pestil | ![]() |
Fruit | Fruit leather |
Peynir helvası | Halva | Consists of lor (curd) cheese, butter, semolina, sugar. Its top can be caramelized in oven or served without baking. | |
Pişmaniye | ![]() |
Halva | Flour roasted in butter blended into pulled sugar. Also called çekme helva, or pulled helva. It often reminds people of cotton candy, but it is very different in taste and texture. It is very similar (in taste and texture and in the making) of the Korean Kkul-tarae and China's Dragon's Beard Candy |
Pürüzyen | Pastry | U shaped pastry filled with almond paste and sprinkled with sugar on top. | |
Revani | ![]() |
Cake | Semolina cake soaked in sharbat syrup |
Saray helvası | Halva | Firmer and more compact version of pişmaniye. | |
Soğuk baklava | Phyllo pastry, dairy | Thin layers of phyllo brushed with clarified butter, poured with a type of cold sharbat syrup consists of milk and sugar and served with cocoa or grated chocolate on top. | |
Su muhallebisi | Pudding | Type of pudding made with water, milk, starch. It is generally served with rose water and powdered sugar. Optionally, melted kızamık şekeri (kind of spicy sugar mixture) can be poured on it when served. | |
Şambali | Pastry | Made with semolina, sugar and yogurt or milk. | |
Şekerpare | Pastry | Soft almond pastry soaked in lemon-flavored sharbat syrup | |
Şıllık | ![]() |
Crepe | Turkish dessert crepe filled with walnut and topped with sweet syrup and chopped pistachio |
Şöbiyet | ![]() |
Phyllo pastry | Similar to baklava but filled with sweet cream and nuts |
Supangle | ![]() |
Cake, pudding | Chocolate pudding topped cake garnished with chopped pistachio or shredded coconut |
Süngeriye | Dairy | A fluffy dessert made with egg whites, milk, rice flour and sugar. | |
Süt helvası | ![]() |
Pudding, dairy | Dessert consists of milk, butter, flour and sugar |
Sütlaç | ![]() |
Pudding, dairy | It is a dessert made using rice, milk and sugar. |
Sütlü nuriye | ![]() |
Phyllo pastry, dairy | Baklava variation with dairy milk |
Taş kadayıf | Fried dough dessert | Dough filled with walnut or pistachio with crispy exterior and soft interior | |
Tavuk göğsü | ![]() |
Pudding, dairy | Turkish milk pudding made with fine strands of chicken breast |
Tahinli pide | Pastry | Sweet pide with the topping consisting of tahini and sugar. Its shape varies from region to region, can be round or flat. | |
Tulumba | Fried dough dessert | Deep-fried batter dough soaked in sharbat syrup | |
Unutmabeni tatlısı | Pastry | Made with bread, pekmez and sugar. | |
Yassı kadayıf | Fried dough dessert | Fried dound shaped dough sweetened with sharbat syrup. Generally served with walnut. | |
Van pastası | Cake | Kind of cake. | |
Yanıksı dondurma | Ice cream | Type of ice cream specific to Antalya. Its distinguishing feature is its smoky taste, caused by the burning of milk during production. | |
Zerde | ![]() |
Pudding | Sweet rice pudding colored yellow with saffron |
Zini hamursuzu | Pastry | Kind of pastry with poppy seed and tahini. |