Kestane şekeri - Candied chestnut, a traditional Turkish sweet

Turkey has a wide range of traditional sweets. And one of these that I love the most is kestane şekeri or candied chestnut that’s usually prepared by cooking chestnuts in sweet sugar syrup.

How to Make Kabak Tatlısı – Turkish Pumpkin Dessert Recipe

I have to say that I have never tried making kabak tatlısı or pumpkin/butternut squash dessert before on my own.  Though as much as I’ve tried eating it several times before (my family and friends always make it), I can easily tell anyone who wonders how it tastes like that kabak tatlısı or Turkish pumpkin dessert is so delicous!

Güllaç - Turkish traditional holiday dessert

When it comes to any major religious holidays in Turkey such as the Kurban Bayramı or during the month of Ramadan, güllaç is the most popular milk dessert that's commonly served right after the iftar dinners.  Pronounced as "gu-lach" in Turkish, this traditional dessert is quite easy to make.  Its made mainly with milk, sugar, rose water, pomegranate seeds, a special kind of flaky pastry for güllaç, and finely grated pistachios.  The güllaç pastry made especially just for this dessert can easily be bought right at the local grocery stores and supermarkets in Turkey.

Baklava, a world-renowned dessert of the Turkish Cuisine.

Baklava is not just any dessert.  It's almost like a symbol of the Turks' love for sweets.

This layered flaky delicacy is usually made of extremely thin sheets of pastry and brushed with melted butter. As the layers of thin pastry are stacked, it is then filled with either chopped pistachios (called antep fıstıklığı baklava in Turkish) or with chopped walnuts (cevizliği baklava) - also sometimes referred to as ev baklavası, meaning homemade baklava. Its then baked in the oven and soaked in warm lemony and sweet syrup.

Throughout the years, many variations of making baklava has been made. There are baklavas made with very thin phyllo sheets usually available in the markets so people can easily prepare baklava at home. Some baklavas are filled with hazelnuts or a combination of pistachios and walnuts and or filled with heavy cream.



No matter which way baklava is made or what it consist of, its mouth-watering sweetness and its gentle slight crunch to every bite has long become not just a favorite to the Turkish people but also a common favorite to most of the tourists visiting Turkey.

In Turkey, the city of Gaziantep is popularly known to be the native home of baklava. This is where the Turkish patent office registered a geographical indication certificate for Antep Baklava in 2008.