Dessert

Turkish delight (Lokum)

Sweet and chewy. Some of our favorite spots:

• Şekerci Cafer Erol
• Koska
• Hafiz Mustafa 1864
• Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir Lokumları

Baklava (classic style)

Classic baklava will come with either walnut or pistachio. It can come in little squares, big squares, triangles, diamonds, or ellipse (midye baklava). The shape and sizes change but, for the most part, they are all the same thing.

Soğuk baklava (literally “cold baklava”)

Soğuk baklava is mostly the same ingredients as classic baklava except it is soaked in milk, dusted with chocolate powder, and served cold. The taste is significantly different from classic baklava though.

This is Nurhan’s favorite dessert.

Fıstıklı sarma

You will find these in the same shops that sell baklava. They are PACKED with pistachios and covered in a sweet syrup.

Künefe

Künefe is cheese wrapped with thin noodles, cooked with a sweet syrup, and topped with nuts (typically pistachio) and kaymak. Kaymak is like a cream thickened to a halfway point between whipped cream and butter.

Ice cream (dondurma)

Turkish ice cream is a lot different from American style ice cream. The fat content of the milk is much higher so it has an almost chewy texture.

Lokma

Lokma is basically just fried dough, soaked in a sweet syrup.