The Atlas · Turkiye's Largest Department

Turkish Desserts & Sweets

50 of Turkiye's 184 ranked dishes are sweets, more than a quarter of the whole cuisine. By our raters the best is Fırın sütlaç, the oven-baked rice pudding with the blistered top, Nº 49 in the world.

50 dishes ranked·27.2% of the cuisine·5,048 diner ratings·Top rank Nº 49

Few countries carry a sweet tooth like Turkiye. 50 of its ranked dishes are desserts, a full 27.2 percent of the cuisine, and the range runs from Ottoman-palace milk puddings to the syrup-drenched pastry counter. Baklava is the emblem abroad, yet the tradition is far wider: chewy Maraş dondurma cut with a knife, künefe pulled hot and stringy with cheese, sütlaç browned in the oven, lokum dusted in sugar.

The single best-rated is not the showpiece but Fırın sütlaç itself, Nº 49 worldwide, a plain milk-and-rice pudding baked until it blisters. Fame runs elsewhere: baklava draws the most reviews of any Turkish sweet with 793 ratings, though it ranks only Nº 730. The deepest seam is the southeast, around Gaziantep, the pistachio city whose Gaziantep baklavası sets the benchmark at Nº 121. Read them below: the signature sweets, by region, or the complete list of all 50.

The Signature Sweets

Twelve signature sweets in rank order, four told in full, then eight more from the pastry counter.

Fırın sütlaç, pudding from Turkiye
Plate IPudding · Turkiye

1Nº 49 worldwide

Fırın sütlaç

Pudding · Turkiye

Turkish rice pudding, baked in the oven until the top browns and blisters over a cool, milky set beneath. Made simply from milk, rice, and sugar with roots in the Ottoman kitchen, it is served chilled in its little dish, one of the gentlest sweets in the repertoire.

★ 4.5|136 ratings

Gaziantep baklavası, sweet pastry from Turkiye

2Gaziantep baklavasıNº 121

Sweet Pastry · Gaziantep

Baklava from Gaziantep, the southeastern city that is Türkiye's sweet capital and home to its famous pistachios. Wafer-thin sheets of yufka layered with ground pistachio and butter, baked, then soaked in syrup and cut into glinting, green-centered diamonds. The benchmark all other baklava chases.

★ 4.4|312 ratings

Katmer, sweet pastry from Turkiye

3KatmerNº 298

Sweet Pastry · Gaziantep

The Gaziantep breakfast: a single sheet of yufka folded around clotted kaymak, ground pistachio and sugar, then crisped on a hot griddle until shatteringly flaky. Locals eat it straight from the pan in the morning, cut into wedges while the cream is still warm.

★ 4.3|144 ratings

Dondurma, ice cream from Turkiye

4DondurmaNº 303

Ice Cream · Kahramanmaraş

Turkish ice cream from Kahramanmaraş, thickened with salep flour and mastic resin into something dense and stretchy that resists melting. Famously chewy, it is cut with a knife and eaten with a fork, and street vendors turn serving it into a teasing sleight-of-hand act.

★ 4.3|397 ratings

  1. Kazandibi, pudding from Turkiye5

    Kazandibi

    Nº 417

    Pudding · Turkiye★ 4.2

  2. Şöbiyet, sweet pastry from Turkiye6

    Şöbiyet

    Nº 528

    Sweet Pastry · Turkiye★ 4.1

  3. Baklava, sweet pastry from Turkiye7

    Baklava

    Nº 730

    Sweet Pastry · Turkiye★ 4.1

  4. İncir uyutması, pudding from Turkiye8

    İncir uyutması

    Nº 972

    Pudding · Turkiye★ 4.0

  5. Fıstıklı sarma, sweet pastry from Turkiye9

    Fıstıklı sarma

    Nº 1,004

    Sweet Pastry · Turkiye★ 4.0

  6. Tavuk göğsü, pudding from Turkiye10

    Tavuk göğsü

    Nº 1,266

    Pudding · Turkiye★ 4.0

  7. Kadayıf dolması, sweet pastry from Turkiye11

    Kadayıf dolması

    Nº 1,320

    Sweet Pastry · Erzurum★ 3.9

  8. İrmik helvası, dessert from Turkiye12

    İrmik helvası

    Nº 1,844

    Dessert · Turkiye★ 3.9

The Gazetteer

Where Turkiye's sweets are made

The regions of Turkiye with the deepest dessert traditions. Choose one to filter the complete ledger below.

Placed dishes only · top 6 regions

  7. Another 35 ranked dishes are logged simply as pan-Turkish, with no single regional home.

The Complete Ledger

All 50 Turkish desserts & sweets in the world ranking, every entry.

50 entries
  1. 49 Fırın sütlaç Pudding Turkiye ★ 4.5
  2. 121 Gaziantep baklavası Sweet Pastry Gaziantep ★ 4.4
  3. 298 Katmer Sweet Pastry Gaziantep ★ 4.3
  4. 303 Dondurma Ice Cream Kahramanmaraş ★ 4.3
  5. 417 Kazandibi Pudding Turkiye ★ 4.2
  6. 528 Şöbiyet Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 4.1
  7. 730 Baklava Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 4.1
  8. 972 İncir uyutması Pudding Turkiye ★ 4.0
  9. 1,004 Fıstıklı sarma Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 4.0
  10. 1,266 Tavuk göğsü Pudding Turkiye ★ 4.0
  11. 1,320 Kadayıf dolması Sweet Pastry Erzurum ★ 3.9
  12. 1,844 İrmik helvası Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.9
  13. 1,848 Burma kadayıf Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.9
  14. 2,034 Bülbül yuvası Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.9
  15. 2,459 Supangle Pudding Turkiye ★ 3.8
  16. 2,932 Kestaneli baklava Sweet Pastry Marmara Region ★ 3.8
  17. 2,999 Vişneli baklava Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.8
  18. 3,518 Dilber dudağı Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.8
  19. 3,931 Ş Şambali Dessert İzmir ★ 3.7
  20. 4,346 A Antakya künefesi Sweet Pastry Antakya ★ 3.7
  21. 4,808 Zerde Pudding Turkiye ★ 3.7
  22. 4,824 Sütlü nuriye Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.7
  23. 4,968 P Praline stuffed cookies (İzmir bombası) Cookie İzmir ★ 3.7
  24. 5,045 Keşkül Pudding Turkiye ★ 3.7
  25. 5,185 Bayramiç tahin helvası Dessert Bayramiç ★ 3.6
  26. 5,325 Kalburabastı Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.6
  27. 5,586 Karsambaç Frozen Dessert Çamlıyayla ★ 3.6
  28. 5,712 Kabak tatlısı Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.6
  29. 5,803 Un helvası Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.6
  30. 5,960 Muhallebi Pudding Turkiye ★ 3.6
  31. 6,754 Lokma Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.5
  32. 6,809 Ayva tatlısı Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.5
  33. 7,098 Nokul Sweet Pastry Black Sea Region ★ 3.4
  34. 7,114 Ekmek kadayıfı Dessert Afyonkarahisar ★ 3.4
  35. 7,239 Kaymaklı kayısı Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.4
  36. 7,250 Tulumba Deep-fried Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.4
  37. 7,251 Açma Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.4
  38. 7,289 Kemalpaşa Dessert Mustafakemalpaşa ★ 3.4
  39. 7,457 Acıbadem kurabiyesi Cookie Turkiye ★ 3.4
  40. 7,825 Hanım göbeği Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.3
  41. 7,948 Şekerpare Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.2
  42. 7,954 Pestil Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.2
  43. 7,964 Güllaç Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.2
  44. 8,114 Cezerye Dessert Mersin ★ 3.2
  45. 8,387 Kandil simidi Sweet Pastry Turkiye ★ 3.1
  46. 8,464 Höşmerim Cheese Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.0
  47. 8,494 Aşure Dessert Turkiye ★ 3.0
  48. 8,543 Hoşaf Dessert Turkiye ★ 2.9
  49. 8,696 Lokum Dessert Istanbul ★ 2.6
  50. 8,742 Macun Dessert Turkiye ★ 2.5

Questions, Answered

Turkish desserts & sweets, frequently asked, answered from 5,048 ratings.

What is the best Turkish dessert?
By our diners' ratings it's Fırın sütlaç, the oven-baked rice pudding, at Nº 49 in the world, the top-rated Turkish sweet. Behind it come the pistachio-layered Gaziantep baklavası, the flaky breakfast katmer, and the knife-cut Maraş dondurma.
What are Turkish desserts known for?
Two habits: syrup and milk. Half the department is syrup-soaked pastry built on paper-thin yufka, pistachio and butter, led by baklava; the other half is the milk pudding, from sütlaç to kazandibi, a legacy of the Ottoman palace kitchens. Turkiye fields 50 ranked sweets in all.
What is the most famous Turkish dessert?
By number of ratings, baklava is the most-reviewed Turkish sweet with 793, well ahead of the rest, the layered pistachio pastry that travelled far past its borders. Yet fame and score part ways: it ranks only Nº 730, while Fırın sütlaç leads on quality.
What is Fırın sütlaç?
Fırın sütlaç is Turkish rice pudding baked in the oven until the surface browns and blisters over a cool, milky set beneath. Made simply from milk, rice and sugar, with roots in the Ottoman kitchen, it is served chilled in its little dish. It rates Nº 49 worldwide.
Which region of Turkiye has the best desserts?
Among sweets with a named home, Gaziantep leads, the southeastern pistachio city behind both Gaziantep baklavası and the breakfast katmer. İzmir matches it on count with two, while Kahramanmaraş claims the chewy dondurma and Erzurum the fried kadayıf dolması. Many entries are logged simply as pan-Turkish.
Where else should I look for great desserts?
The pastry nations, above all: worldwide the department runs to 2,151 sweets from 154 countries, topped not by Turkiye but by Algeria's almond makroud. Italy fields the deepest bench at 305, ahead of the United States at 155 and France at 114. See Desserts & Sweets worldwide.

This Department, Elsewhere

Desserts & sweets from Turkiye's neighbours, ranked the same way.

IranianDesserts & Sweets24LebaneseDesserts & Sweets15SyrianDesserts & Sweets7IsraeliDesserts & Sweets7ArmenianDesserts & Sweets5AzerbaijaniDesserts & Sweets5GeorgianDesserts & Sweets4YemeniDesserts & Sweets3OmaniDesserts & Sweets3QatariDesserts & Sweets3IraqiDesserts & Sweets2JordanianDesserts & Sweets1Saudi ArabianDesserts & Sweets1KuwaitiDesserts & Sweets1
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