The best-known Turkish sweets are lokum (Turkish delight), baklava, kadayıf pastries, tahini helva, pestil and walnut sucuk, candied chestnuts, almond paste, akide hard candy and handmade chocolate. Most of them travel well, which is why they fill so many gift boxes and suitcases leaving Turkey.
Below are the ten we would put in a box for someone we like: what each one actually tastes like, how it is eaten in Turkey, and the exact tin or tray we would pick from our own shelves.
The short version, if you are in a hurry:
| Sweet | What it is | Taste and texture | Our gift pick | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lokum (Turkish delight) | Sugar-and-starch cubes, often packed with pistachio | Soft, chewy, lightly perfumed | Double-roasted pistachio mix, 570 g | $60.50 |
| Baklava | Filo layers, butter, pistachio and syrup | Crisp, syrupy, nutty | Deluxe mixed pistachio baklava, XL box | $146.00 |
| Burma kadayıf | Shredded pastry rolled around pistachios | Crunchy, buttery, sweet | Pistachio burma kadayıf, small box | $102.22 |
| Tahini helva | Sesame paste and sugar pulled into fine strands | Crumbly, nutty, less sweet than it looks | Pistachio helva in a bronze tin, 500 g | $41.70 |
| Pestil | Fruit pulp dried into thin sheets | Chewy, fruity | Pestil and köme gift set, 1 kg | $51.44 |
| Cevizli sucuk | Nuts on a string, coated in fruit molasses | Chewy outside, crunchy inside | Hazelnut-walnut sucuk, 500 g | $34.32 |
| Kestane şekeri | Chestnuts candied slowly in syrup | Soft, mellow, vanilla-sweet | Small candied chestnuts, 500 g | $69.33 |
| Badem ezmesi | Turkish almond paste | Smooth, marzipan-like | Almond paste in an Istanbul box, 275 g | $49.88 |
| Akide şekeri | Ottoman hard candy | Glassy, slow to melt | Mixed akide in a vintage tin | $38.77 |
| Handmade chocolate | Boxed chocolates from Istanbul confectioners | Creamy, often with pistachio or hazelnut | Special chocolate, two-layer box of 48 | $83.92 |
1. Lokum (Turkish delight): the one everyone knows
Lokum is a soft cube of sugar and starch, cooked slowly until it turns glossy and bouncy, then rolled in powdered sugar so the pieces do not stick together. Rose is the classic flavour. The ones worth giving are packed with nuts. Its full Turkish name, rahat lokum, comes from an Arabic phrase that roughly means "comfort for the throat".
Our pick comes from Hafız Mustafa, an Istanbul confectioner founded in 1864: a mix of lokum with double-roasted pistachios, which taste toasty enough to stand up to the sugar. For the whole story, read what real Turkish delight is, or browse our Turkish delight collection.
2. Baklava: the showpiece
Paper-thin layers of filo, butter and ground pistachio, baked until crisp and soaked in syrup. In Turkey, baklava is what you bring when you visit someone, which tells you how well it works as a gift.
- Pistachio is the classic for gifting. Walnut is milder and cheaper.
- Shapes vary: square slices, carrot slices (havuç dilim), rolls (sarma).
- Keep it in a cool, dry place rather than the fridge, and eat it first: of everything on this list, baklava is best fresh.
Our guide to baklava covers the shapes and the makers. For a gift, we would choose the deluxe mixed pistachio box from Hafız Mustafa, which also qualifies for free shipping on its own.
3. Burma kadayıf: baklava's crunchier cousin
Kadayıf is shredded pastry, fine as hair. Roll it tightly around crushed pistachios, bake it and soak it in syrup, and you get burma kadayıf: crunchier and lighter than baklava, with a cross-section that is mostly green.
It is the box to choose for someone who already knows baklava. More about the pastry itself in our kadayıf guide. If you are after the hot cheese dessert made with the same pastry, that is künefe, which is best made at home.
4. Tahini helva: what Turks mean by halva
Ask for helva in Turkey and you will usually get tahini helva: toasted sesame paste and sugar worked together until they form fine, crumbly strands. It is nutty, rich and less sweet than it looks, and a thin slice with tea is a common breakfast.
Helva keeps well and posts well. Şekerci Cafer Erol, an Istanbul confectioner since 1807, packs theirs in bronze tins that people tend to keep long after the helva is gone. If you would rather try your hand at it, here is our tahini halva recipe.
5. Pestil: Turkey's fruit leather
Pestil is fruit pulp, usually mulberry or grape, cooked down, spread thin and dried in the sun until it turns into chewy sheets. The town of Gümüşhane in the northeast is famous for it. Children like it, adults keep stealing it, and it has none of the stickiness of syrup-soaked sweets.
In Gümüşhane, the home of pestil, it is always sold alongside köme, the local name for the nut-filled molasses rolls in the next entry. Our pick is a gift set with both. Here is how pestil is made, step by step, and the full pestil range.
6. Cevizli sucuk (köme): nuts in a molasses coat
Sucuk is also the Turkish word for a sausage, but there is no meat here. Whole nuts are threaded on a string, dipped again and again in thickened fruit molasses and left to dry between coats. The result looks like a knobbly sausage and slices into rounds with a nut in every piece. In Gümüşhane it is called köme.
Ours, from Kale Pestil, uses hazelnuts and walnuts in a mulberry molasses coat. Slice it thin and serve it with coffee.
7. Kestane şekeri: candied chestnuts
Kestane şekeri is a specialty of Bursa: chestnuts simmered in syrup over several days until they turn soft, glossy and gently sweet. If you know French marrons glacés, it is the same idea.
A few pieces make any gift box feel special. Curious how they are made? Read our candied chestnut recipe.
8. Badem ezmesi: Turkish almond paste
Badem ezmesi is almond paste, close to marzipan but usually softer and a little less sweet, pressed into small pieces. It is a classic at Istanbul's old confectioners, and the right gift for someone who finds baklava too syrupy.
9. Akide şekeri: Ottoman hard candy
Akide is the hard candy Istanbul's confectioners have been making for centuries: sugar cooked until glassy, flavoured with cinnamon, mint, lemon or clove, then cut into small pieces that melt slowly. Old-style shops still sell it by weight from tall glass jars.
In a sealed tin it lasts for ages, which makes it the easiest sweet on this list to post abroad. Our pick is Cafer Erol's mixed akide in a vintage tin. See more in our candy collection.
10. Handmade Turkish chocolate
Turkey's old confectioners make chocolate too, often filled with pistachio or hazelnut. A box from an Istanbul confectioner is a nice change from the supermarket brands everyone already knows.
Our pick is Cafer Erol's special chocolate in a red two-layer box of 48 pieces, enough to pass around a whole table.
Also famous, but eaten fresh
Any list of Turkish desserts will also mention these. They are made to be eaten the same day, so you will find them in pastry shops and restaurants rather than in a gift box:
- Künefe: shredded pastry with melting cheese, served hot. Here is how to make it at home.
- Sütlaç: rice pudding, often baked until the top turns golden.
- Kazandibi: a milk pudding with a caramelised, slightly burnt base.
- Tulumba and lokma: fried dough soaked in syrup, sold warm by street vendors.
- Revani: a light semolina cake soaked in syrup.
- Aşure: a pudding of grains, pulses, dried fruit and nuts, traditionally shared with neighbours.
- Pişmaniye: fine sugar floss pulled by hand, a specialty of Kocaeli.
- Maraş dondurma: stretchy ice cream thickened with salep and mastic.
Serve them with Turkish coffee or tea
In Turkey, sweets almost never arrive alone. A piece of lokum comes on the saucer next to a Turkish coffee, and baklava is followed by a tulip glass of black tea. Adding one of these to a gift box makes it feel complete, and it usually tips the order over our free-shipping threshold.
Mandabatmaz, a one-table coffee bar off İstiklal Avenue, has been brewing Turkish coffee in copper pots since 1967; its name refers to foam so thick that "even a water buffalo would not sink". For how to brew it, see our Turkish coffee guide, and for tea, our Turkish tea guide.
Bonus: how to build a Turkish sweets gift box (and where to buy one)
- Mix textures: one soft (lokum), one crisp (baklava or burma), one chewy (pestil or sucuk) and one that keeps (helva or akide).
- Think about the journey. Baklava is best eaten soon; helva, akide, pestil and chocolate are happy to wait.
- Add coffee or tea. Turkish sweets are almost always served with one or the other.
If you would rather not choose at all, a ready-made gift basket does it for you:
When to order for Christmas
We ship from Turkey with express carriers. Orders are prepared within 1–2 business days and usually arrive 2–4 business days later, and shipping is free on orders over $100. For a box under the tree, we suggest ordering by mid-December, a little earlier if you are sending gifts to several addresses.
Turkish sweets: your questions answered
What are the most famous Turkish sweets?
Lokum (Turkish delight) and baklava are the two everyone knows. After those come kadayıf desserts, tahini helva, pestil, cevizli sucuk, candied chestnuts and akide hard candy. Künefe and sütlaç are famous too, but they are served fresh rather than boxed.
What is Turkish delight called in Turkish?
Lokum, or rahat lokum in full. In some languages it is still known as "rahat", a short form of the Turkish name.
What is helva in Turkey?
Most often tahini helva, made from sesame paste and sugar. Turkish homes also cook semolina or flour helva, served warm on special days and after family gatherings.
What is Turkish pudding called?
The best known are sütlaç (rice pudding, often baked until the top browns), muhallebi (a milk pudding) and kazandibi, a milk pudding with a caramelised base. They are made fresh and served cold, so they are not something we ship.
Which Turkish sweets make the best gift to bring back?
The ones that travel well: lokum in a sealed box, tahini helva, akide candy, pestil and chocolate. Baklava is the crowd-pleaser, but carry it in a sealed box and open it soon.
Where can I buy Turkish sweets online?
Every sweet on this list is in our shop, from the same Istanbul makers you would visit in person: Hafız Mustafa, Şekerci Cafer Erol and Kale Pestil. We ship worldwide from Turkey, and orders over $100 ship free.
Is Turkish delight healthy?
It is a sweet, and we treat it as one. People search a lot about its benefits online; we would rather stick to what we know, which is how it tastes and how to serve it. For anything health-related, your doctor knows more than a food shop.
Do you ship Turkish sweets to the US, UK and Europe?
Yes. We ship worldwide from Turkey by express carrier, usually arriving 2–4 business days after dispatch, and shipping is free on orders over $100.
If you only buy one box, make it pistachio lokum: everyone likes it and it survives any journey. To impress, add baklava. And if you want people to ask where you found it, slip in the cevizli sucuk.
