Hello pastry chefs and dessert lovers! If you’re entertaining guests with a sweet tooth, here are a few ideas on desserts in Türkiye that you can either rustle-up yourself, or Senem at 360° Yachting can arrange to deliver to the yacht.

A FEW OF THE MOST POPULAR DESSERTS IN TURKEY

Baklava.

Let’s start with the obvious, you can’t come to Türkiye without at least trying the baklava – it’s delicious! Baklava comes in many different varieties and is the most popular dessert in Türkiye. This utterly indulgent treat is made of wafer-thin layers of crispy filo pastry, filled with nuts and soaked in sweet sugar or honey syrup.

Baklava is normally served at room temperature and it’s wonderful on its own or served with a little ice cream on the side. Baklava can be time-consuming to make, but luckily there are many great baklava shops in Türkiye selling all shapes, sizes and varieties. Baklava is an elegant dessert to serve on board, especially if you’re celebrating an occasion. Ask us to add some locally made baklava to your provisions list.

Sutlac

Many countries have a traditional milk-based pudding, and sütlaç is Türkiye’s. Similar to English rice pudding, the traditional version is a sweet and creamy mix of rice, milk, and sugar that’s baked and served warm with an almost crème brûlée top. You do come across other versions of sütlaç in Türkiye. More sophisticated takes now include vanilla, cinnamon, or a top coating of ground nuts or hazelnuts.

Tavuk Gogsu (Chicken Breast Dessert)

A dessert made from chicken breast? Yes, weird as it may seem, Türkiye has a dessert made from chicken, but I bet if you tried it, you couldn’t tell!

Tavuk göğsü translates as “chicken breast”, and this weird and wonderful dessert was once one of the most popular dishes served to the Ottoman sultans at Topkapi Palace. Tavuk göğsü is one of Türkiye’s signature dishes. It’s a milky pudding not that dissimilar to sütlaç. It’s a mix of rice flour, milk and sugar, but it uses slow-cooked chicken breast to thicken it and give it its unique, almost blancmange-style texture. The chicken is boiled down so slowly that it almost disintegrates and, except for the occasional little strand of chicken, you can’t tell there’s any bird in it! Tavuk göğsü is served with a generous topping of cinnamon and enjoyed to this day by foodies and locals all over Türkiye.

Kadayif (Shredded Wheat Dessert)

Kadayifi is a crispy dessert made from thin strands of dough, filled with nuts (normally ground walnuts or pistachio), and soaked in sugar syrup. It’s a kiddy favourite and many Turkish housewives prepare it at home. It tastes like a cross between bread pudding and baklava and is best served with kaymak (cream) or vanilla ice cream.

Kadayif refers to the thin dough strands that resemble a birds nest and make the basis of the dish. It is also commonly referred to as “shredded wheat dessert” by foreigners as it looks a little like this popular cereal.

Kadayif forms the basis of many desserts in Türkiye. It’s a flexible ingredient that can easily be made to look impressive. Big bags of kadayif strands can be bought easily and cheaply from many traditional stores in Türkiye. If you are looking to make something a little different, ask our provisions team to add kadayif to your order.

Kunefe

Kunefe is another dessert that uses kadayif and is an addictive mix of sweet and savoury. Kadayifi forms the base and top of the dessert with a layer of unsalted cheese tucked in-between. The whole dish is then baked allowing the cheese to melt in super-ooze style, and the top to become crispy. It’s then all soaked in sugar syrup and topped with finely ground pistachios. Yummy!

Asure (Noahs Ark Pudding)

Aşure is a pudding with a fascinating history. According to Islamic belief, on surviving the big flood, Noah made a sweet dessert using all the ingredients he had left in the ark. The pudding contained everything from dried fruits, nuts, beans, pulses, and grains, along with sugar and syrup. No two aşure puddings are ever the same as it’s all about using the ingredients you have at hand.

Aşure is traditionally served during the first month of the Islamic calendar, on the 10^th day of Muharrem. People tend to make a big vat of aşure and then share the dish with friends and neighbours. Although today, aşure is such a well-loved dish that you can find it throughout the year in Traditional restaurants or lokantas.

Lokum (Turkish Delight)

Lokum (Turkish Delight) is the ideal accompaniment to Turkish coffee. Most people are familiar with Turkish Delight, but the real deal is a far cry from Terry’s fluorescent chocolate-covered bars found in Sainsbury’s at Christmas. Lokum in Türkiye is multi-coloured, gelatinous cubes of loveliness, flavoured with fruit, rosewater, mint or citrus and often filled with nuts, fruit or rolled in coconut. There are many specialist Lokum stores in Türkiye, the best ones have trays of different varieties so you can pick-and-mix a box of fresh lokum and buy it buy the kilo. Lokum is great to serve with mid-morning coffee or an equally attractive addition for the conference table should you be entertaining the business crowd. Ask 360° Yachting to supply a selection whilst you’re in town.