Desserts You Have to Try

After writing articles on both Food You Have to Try and Drinks You Have to Try, we thought it would be fitting to cap off the series with desserts you have to try from around the world. There isn’t much of an introduction here since we are big fans of dessert so without further ado, I present to you…. 

Josh and Dana’s List of Desserts You Have to Try from Countries We’ve Visited

Desserts You Have to Try – Turkey 

We were shocked to find out that Turkey has so much dessert but I guess it is fitting to have with the strong dark Turkish coffee so it makes sense. It’s so fun to walk down the streets of Istanbul and see all the shops selling amazing treats. Upon entering any dessert shop, you will be treated with a sample to find the exact flavor you like. Try them out as the different colors and ingredients will tickle the senses. It’s so fun. 

Turkish Delight is the most common dessert in the stores. It can be sold in either traditional squares or the modern rolls. We started calling the rolls dessert sushi because of the long rolls piled high on plates in store windows. The flavors vary from pistachio to rose to pomegranate to Oreo cookie. Try them all to find your favorite! It’s made from starch and sugar to form a gel-like substance. The outside is coated in powdered sugar to prevent sticking. 

Baklava is a very traditional dessert found throughout the region wherever the Ottoman empire went, think modern day Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. The sweet treat is made by adding many layers of thin phyllo dough with sugar, syrup, pistachios, butter, and lemon juice. It’s dripping with sugar syrup when served. Honestly it’s not our favorite. Josh thinks it tastes like frosted flakes in milk. But it’s definitely worth trying to see what you think! 

Turkey is also known for Turkish ice cream which is called Dondurma. The thing that makes this ice cream different is that they add salep (thickening agent from the root of orchid flowers) and mastic (resin that gives a chewy texture). These both help the ice cream to not melt as quickly. Nowadays, vendors perform tricks and jokes with customers to entertain the line. Because the ice cream is sticky, the vendors can use long metal sticks to serve the cone and ice cream but quickly take it away from the customer for a silly laugh. 

Desserts You Have to Try – India

India is well known for its plethora of fresh fruit options. Do be careful though not to eat fresh fruits washed in water. See our article here all about first time traveling to India and water safety. While we didn’t have a lot of desserts because the milk tea was sweet enough for us, the one dessert we fell in love with is Mysore Pak. This delicious fudgy, shortbread like cookie is made from ghee (clarified butter), sugar, and gram flour (ground chickpeas or ground dal). It comes from the town of Mysore in Karnataka. It literally melts in your mouth. There are two different styles, the butter/oil version tends to be more stiff and porous, shortbread-like while the ghee version is more soft and fudge-like. We’d recommend you try them both! 

Desserts You Have to Try – New Zealand 

While the origins of this dessert are debated (Australia and New Zealand are decking that one out), one thing is for sure. It was named after a Russian ballerina who was touring the area in the 1920’s and the dessert was served in honor of her. The Pavlova is a light and fluffy circular meringue cake. It contains egg whites, sugar, vinegar, corn flour, and vanilla. It’s crispy on the outside and soft like a marshmallow on the inside. It’s wonderful. Generally it’s served with fresh fruit on top. It has now become a Christmas tradition being served all over the country! 

Desserts You Have to Try – Thailand 

While not officially the dessert of the country of Thailand, it should be. Mango sticky rice is the most indulgent and refreshing dessert. Start with sticky rice cooked in coconut milk and sugar. Serve the warm rice with fresh mangos sliced on top. Stores are now getting creative and dyeing the rice different colors (same taste though), serving it with a sweet drizzle of sugary coconut milk on top, or even puffed rice topping to give it a little crunch. Peak mango season is April to May but you can get it all year long. It’s so fun to sit at an outdoor cafe or market in Bangkok with a warm bowl of mango sticky rice watching the people go by! 

Desserts You Have to Try – Georgia 

Georgia is known for its fresh ingredients for all its food. Honestly, it’s some of the best food we’ve ever had. Check out this article for more details on food in Georgia. That being said, nothing was overly sweet as desserts were made with real, fresh ingredients like fruits or nuts. 

Churchkhela, referred to as Georgian snickers (but we wouldn’t compare the two) is a sausage shaped candy on a string you will see everywhere. The walnuts are strung up and dipped in a coating of grape juice and corn flour. This creates a thick chewy consistency that reminds us of jello. The different colors are based on the types of grapes used, the amount of time cooked, and the dipping/drying process. You can eat it right off the string while walking around Tbilisi! 

Tklapi is a traditional Georgian dessert which is pureed fruit dried in a thin sheet. Think like a natural fruit roll up. Plums, figs, apricots, or peaches make for delicious varieties. They can range from sour to sweet as most people don’t add additional sugar to the fruit before drying. It’s a real treat! 

Desserts You Have to Try – Arab / Middle East

The Middle Eastern countries love their desserts! This is the land of sugar: sugar in your coffee, ice cream, candy stores, sometimes the dessert table is bigger than the food table. It’s very traditional for people nowadays to daily sit in a cafe and indulge in a coffee or tea with a sweet treat. Usually later than we’d expect, like 4-6pm but it’s a great way to relax. 

Knafeh or Kunafa – while the spelling of this dessert ranges, one thing is for sure: it’s delicious. Made by combining kadayif (a shredded phyllo dough noodle) layered with a cheese that is soft and elastic when heated, and soaked in a sweet sugary based syrup. The crispy noodles, the soft cheese texture and the sweetness combine to make a magical treat. 

One of the most traditional sweets you’ll find here are lokma which are leavened and deep fried dough balls soaked in syrup or honey. They are not our favorite because the dough gets soggy quickly as it’s wet. They are served as a traditional dessert with Arabic coffee or tea at the end of the meal. 

Halwa quickly became a favorite of ours though and we realized while traveling to many countries in the region that each country may have their own unique take on it. So always do a visual check on what you are ordering because it can range widely! For example the translucent halwa from Oman is like jelly, while the semolina based halwa in India is very buttery, where the sesame based halwa is crumbly and can be found throughout the Middle East. All of them tend to be overly sweet so not a lot is needed but it’s a delicious way to cap off a meal or enjoy it with coffee or tea. 

Desserts You Have to Try – China

China is funny because things that we thought should be sweet like desserts were not sweet. Instead they use a lot of mung bean or red bean paste in their desserts. Side note, things we didn’t think should be sweet like meat or cheese, sometimes had added sugar so watch out! 

Mooncakes are probably the most widely known dessert coming out of China. They are mostly used to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival but you can find them year round in bakeries or cafes. Generally a mooncake is a thick tender pastry on the outside with a sweet filling on the inside, usually circular in shape. However both the crust, filling, and shape can range greatly depending on the region in China. Crusts can be either flaky, chewy, crumbly, or tender. While fillings range from a paste made of lotus seed, sweet bean, jujube, or nuts. Cities tend to specialize like a Beijing hawthorn filling or a Shanghai taro with egg yolk filling. The traditional shape is round with the bakeries stamp on top but we’ve also seen contemporary square shaped ones. 

Chinese Egg Tarts hail from Hong Kong. These small delicate pastries are often served in dim sum restaurants. The origins come from the British traders who brought over the Portuguese egg tart. The Chinese egg tarts don’t have a caramelized top like its Portuguese origins. But the flaky shell and custard-like fill remain the same. They are sold everywhere throughout China. 

Tangyuan are glutinous rice balls filled with either red bean or black sesame paste but can have other fillings. Eaten mainly during the lantern festival, you can find them year round. In the grocery store, pick up some in the freezer section, boil them at home and enjoy a delicious treat! We love the black sesame ones! 

Tanghulu is a traditional Beijing dessert served in the winter. Originally it was hawthorn fruit which is very sour by itself dipped in sugar syrup which hardens in the cold winter weather. Now though it can be any fruit (kiwi, strawberries, mandarin oranges, or bananas) on a stick. The sugary coating forms a beautiful glass like case around the fruit. It’s so fun to buy one and walk around the city consuming this dessert on a stick. 

In conclusion, there are many delicious desserts you have to try from many countries. We can’t wait to hear about your experience with each of them. Drop us a line if you’ve had them before or the next time you try one. Enjoy!