The sweet treats of Türkiye
If there's one thing about me, its that im gonna get a sweet treat
All my life, I have never had the biggest sweet tooth. I love a dessert here and there, dont get me wrong, but I never craved or needed a dessert to round out my day or meal. But here I am, I have been turned into one with a sweet tooth. I don’t really know when exactly it happened, (actually I do, because its a contagious condition I caught from my boyfriend) but when it happened, it happened hard. I now always need a sweet treat at the end of the day, or even sometimes in the middle.
And Türkiye is not a safe place for one with a sweet tooth. There are so many different kinds of desserts here, often blending cultures due to the Ottoman influence. What follows is a short list of my favorite Turkish desserts that were eaten while I was living there, even though my most eaten dessert was an Oreo cornetto from the corner shop.
Acıbadem
Think of if an almond cookie and a macaron had a baby. Thats how I would best describe this cookie. When you buy it in the store it comes as a sandwich, so really you get two cookies for the price of one. They are sweet, but not overwhelmingly so and taste like almonds. A MUST try dessert. I think this might be my favorite, only rivaled by sutlaç.
Sutlaç
This is by far the most common dessert Jordan and I ate, and maybe Jordan’s favorite out of all of them. It’s like the rice pudding that we’re used to from the store, but even creamier, always homemade, and its baked until it has a caramelized top, kind of like a crème brûlée. I always had it served cold, and it was a perfect dessert for the hot weather that we had in Istanbul.
Künefe
Künefe is a mouthful of contrasting flavors. It is a cheese based dessert with a shredded wheat crust crust, on top of that, it is all drenched in syrup. The cheese, keeps the dish from being overwhelmingly sweet, while making the flavor very complex.
Bombasi
Literally means bomb. As in like an explosion of chocolate. And it is, I can imagine it’s really good warm, as the chocolate is still melty and oozes out of its cookie after a bite is taken. I ate it cold, and it was just too much for me. The chocolate was a bit too sweet and solid. But if you like chocolate, it is definitely worth a try.
Dondurma
Goat milk ice cream. Ice cream that you can play with. This is the ice cream you see street vendors stretching and snatching away from tourists. I thought it was just regular ice cream, but its not. Apparently its ice cream made of goat’s milk, mastic resin, and salep, which gives it an elastic texture that helps prevent melting and makes it stretchy. You can’t taste the goat part, but the ice cream is definitely a different texture, a bit creamier than normal ice cream.
Baklava
A cult classic. So famous that it has all the countries in the Middle East and Mediterranean arguing that they alone are to credit for its invention. While versions do exist all over, many believe that the dessert was perfected in the kitchens of the Ottoman palace (meaning I chose the perfect place to eat it).
Really you can’t go wrong, unless you’re like Jordan and don’t like syrupy desserts. Which I respect. Regardless, it is still an all time favorite for me that holds an element of nostalgia for the mediterranean place, Neomande, that I frequented when I loved in Raleigh.
Bonus: My Friend’s Mom’s Sutlaç Recipe
You didn’t think I’d tell you how much I love sutlaç and *not* share a recipe, did you? This one is extra special because it came straight from one of my students at the language school in Istanbul. Her mom is one of those legendary Turkish home cooks — the kind who can make a perfect meal with whatever’s in the fridge and somehow always has dessert ready. Every week, she sent her daughter to class with little containers of delicious food to share, and one day I got to try her sutlaç. It was creamy, subtly sweet, with that irresistible caramelized top. Naturally, I asked for the recipe, and here it is.
Baked Rice Pudding (Sutlaç)
Ingredients
1 liter milk
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup rice
2 cups water (400 ml)
1 packet vanilla (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
3 tablespoons starch (cornstarch or wheat starch)
½ cup milk (100 ml) — to dissolve the starch
Instructions
Wash the rice well, then place it in a saucepan with 2 cups of water.
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice absorbs all the water and softens.
Add the 1 liter of milk and vanilla to the rice, stir, and let it boil gently for about 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, dissolve the starch in ½ cup milk.
Add the sugar and the starch mixture into the boiling rice mixture.
Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until it thickens (about 10 minutes).
Pour the pudding into oven-safe serving bowls and place them on a baking tray.
Fill the tray with water until it comes halfway up the sides of the bowls.
Bake on the upper rack at 180°C (356°F) until the tops are golden brown.
Let them cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for 2–3 hours before serving.
But a dessert is nothing without something to go before it! If you missed my post on my favorite Turkish foods. The cuisine seriously has so much to offer, and I cannot recommend enough trying out these foods if you get the chance!
xx abby
Love the description of the Acbaden .
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