Authentic Ayva Tatlısı Recipe Turkiye, Asia
JUMP TO RECIPEWe strongly advise you to read the cooking tips before jumping to the recipe though
Introduction & history
Ayva tatlısı is a winter dessert from Turkey prepared by poaching quinces in sugar and water. Spices such as cloves and cinnamon are added to the sugar and water to enhance the flavor, and the pectin in the quince seeds serves as a thickener. The slow, lengthy cooking process transforms the hard and astringent quince into a soft and delicate ruby-colored dessert with a distinctive rosy scent. Once cooled, ayva tatlısı is served with a dollop of clotted cream or kaymak, and can also be dusted with a sprinkling of walnuts or pistachios.
Pair with
Serve With
Cooking tips
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flavor
The main reason cloves are added is because they help the quinces achieve their signature color, but if looking for extra flavor, you can also add cinnamon, lemon, or orange peel, and even poach the quinces in sweet dessert wine. -
color
Given that it takes a long time for the quinces to develop their color, sometimes even up to six hours, many sweets makers use artificial coloring to achieve that signature ruby-red color and shorten the cooking time. You can recognize that the colorants have been used if the color of the quince is too bright, but when you slice the quince, the inside remains pale. -
method
There are two ways you can prepare this dessert; poaching the quinces and roasting them in the oven. -
when to eat
Since this is a seasonal winter dessert, due to the fact that quinces are a seasonal fruit, the best ayva tatlisi can be eaten from October to December. -
quince varieties
Not all quince varieties are hard and sour. Depending on which one you use, you need to adjust the cooking time, and the amount of sugar used — naturally, the harder and sourer the quince, the more sugar and cooking time it needs.
Recipe variations
Roasted Ayva Tatlisi
PREP 20min
COOK 3h 30min
RESTING 2h
READY IN 5h 50min
Unlike the case with the traditional recipe, in this version, the quinces are first only softened with poaching and then roasted in the oven for two hours. Besides the typically added cloves, the quinces are also filled with grated green apples.
Ingredients
Roasted Ayva Tatlisi
4 quinces
6 green apples, grated
3 cups (600g) sugar
12 cloves
water, as needed
Preparation
Roasted Ayva Tatlisi
Halve the quinces and remove their core. Make a sachet from cheesecloth and place the cloves inside the made sachet.
Assemble the quinces in a tray, cut side up, add the sachet, and fill the holes of the quinces with grated apple.
Now, add the water so that it comes up to ¾ of the tray and cook gently until the quinces soften.
Add the sugar, and once it melts, cook in an oven preheated at 180°C (350°F) for two hours.
Let cool to room temperature, then serve.
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