This unique Turkish dessert consists of dried apricots that are first cooked in a lemon-flavored syrup until soft, then stuffed with kaymak—a type of clotted cream made with water buffalo milk. In the end, the apricots are rolled in ground pistachios.

Fruity, creamy, and nutty all at once, kaymaklı kayısı delivers an interesting combination of textures and flavors. To enhance their color, the apricots can also be simmered in red wine, and alternatively garnished with walnuts or hazelnuts, while blanched almonds can also be added to the cream filling.

This unusual Turkish dessert is usually prepared by street vendors on small stoves with individual compartments. Each compartment is filled with a thick, colorful toffee paste that the vendor then wraps around a wooden stick, creating a sort of multicolored lollipop.

The candy has a long history, presumably originating during the Ottoman Empire period, when it was mainly used as a health remedy. The modern versions of macun are quite different than the original herbal pastes, but they are characterized by their distinctive sweet and spicy flavor which is achieved by the addition of numerous spices such as aniseed, cloves, turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon, or cumin. 

Hoşaf is a traditional compote of dried fruit – usually apricots, figs, prunes, and raisins. The fruits are simply boiled with sugar, and the concoction is then left to cool down. The longer the dish sits in the fridge, the tastier it will become.

Hoşaf is especially popular during the month of Ramadan, and it is recommended to pair it with börek.

Hanım göbeği is a traditional sweet pastry originating from Turkey. It consists of choux pastry balls that are pressed in the middle to create a dimple, then deep-fried in hot oil and soaked in sugar syrup. The name of this sweet treat means lady's navel, hence the indentation in the middle of the pastry.

The dough is made with a combination of flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and salt, while the syrup is made with a mixture of sugar, water, and lemon juice. The dough should be fried in oil over medium heat, and the pastry is then placed into cold syrup.

Kemalpaşa is a delicious, melt-in-the-mouth Turkish dessert named after the place of its origin in the city of Bursa. It is made with a special, unsalted cow’s milk cheese produced in the town, along with flour, semolina, eggs, and baking powder.

The dough is traditionally shaped into small balls that are first baked in the oven, then boiled in sherbet. Besides the standard version, there is also a packaged version of dry kemalpaşa. In winter, the dessert is usually served with cream, and in summer, it is served with a scoop of ice cream. 

Şambali, also sometimes spelled as şambali tatlısı is a traditional dessert originating from İzmir. It is mainly made with semolina, sugar, and yogurt. Additionally, it may contain other ingredients like coconut, depending on the recipe or regional variations.

The dessert is baked and then soaked in sugar syrup to make it sweet and moist. It has a dense and moist texture, somewhat similar to a sponge cake but denser due to the semolina. Şambali is often cut into squares or diamonds and usually topped with a piece of almond, peanut, or pistachio.

Karsambaç is a traditional dessert originating from the highlands of Mersin, most noteably the town of Çamlıyayla. This unique dessert is made with a combination of clean mountain snow and a sweet syrup such as honey, sugar syrup, or molasses.

The blocks of snow are taken from the mountains with a pickaxe, and once brought to the city, the snow is grated with a knife before it's mixed with the sweet syrup. This dessert is often sold on street corners as a refreshing summer treat. It's considered to be a natural ancestor to granitas and snow cones.

Lokum are succulent, sugary cubes from Türkiye based on a gel of starch and sugar. Traditionally, lokum is flavored with rose water, lemon, bergamot orange, mastic, or mint, but the Turkish favorite remains a lokum of plain jelly combined with pistachios.

There are also other varieties, using ingredients such as cinnamon, dates, hazelnuts, or walnuts. These cubes are typically offered with tea and coffee after breakfast, lunch, and dinner in most Turkish homes. The sweet treats were invented by Bekir Affendi, who came to Istanbul in 1777 from Anatolia. 

Churchkhela is a traditional Caucasian candy that is shaped into a sausage. This candy is made by dipping a long string of nuts (usually walnut halves) in concentrated grape juice, then leaving the concoction to dry.

It is so healthy and so nutritious that, in the past, it was even carried by Georgian warriors on their long journeys. Although walnuts are usually used in the preparation of churchkhela, they can be replaced by almonds, hazelnuts, or raisins.