25 Mediterranean Desserts With Pistachios, Citrus, Saffron, Honey, and More
End any day with a sweet getaway.
From France, Spain, and Morocco on the western side to Turkey, Israel, and Egypt on the east, the Mediterranean Sea is bordered by more than 20 countries throughout Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. So when we talk about Mediterranean cuisine, there's a lot of ground to cover — and no shortage of deliciousness to explore. This selection of our best Mediterranean desserts includes familiar staples like baklava and tiramisu, but we also have recipes for lesser-known treats to put on your radar, such as Tunisian rosewater-scented almond cookies, saffron-laced Turkish semolina pudding, and pistachio-topped Israeli phyllo-cheese pie. Choose the perfect way to punctuate your next Mediterranean meal.
Baklava Cheesecake
Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
This rich cheesecake is scented with cinnamon, cardamom, and orange zest, but it’s the shredded phyllo and honeyed pistachios that give it a dramatic touch.
Turkish Delight
Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Rosewater, lemon juice, and orange blossom water give this iconic Turkish treat (also called lokum) a citrusy, floral flavor, while pistachios add a bit of crunch.
Raspberry Clafoutis
Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Annie Probst / Prop Styling by Sue Mitchell
Clafoutis is a French baked custard that's bolstered with flour and studded with fruit, traditionally sweet cherries — it could be described as something in between flan and a pancake. Here, organic winemaker Alix de Montille swaps in raspberries for the cherries.
Kaak Warqa
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
These delicate, doughnut-shaped, rosewater-scented almond flour cookies hold a dear place in Tunisians’ hearts. When special guests come over, kaak warqa are accompanied by pine nuts and served with tea boiled with mint.
Knafeh (Shredded Phyllo-and-Cheese Pie)
Israeli chef Michael Solomonov and Palestinian cookbook author Reem Kassis formed an unlikely friendship around their shared, though much disputed, food heritage. They both love this knafeh, a sweet, cheese-filled dessert encased in shredded phyllo pastry (kataifi) and soaked in a fragrant syrup laced with rose and orange blossom.
Cannoli
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
Cannoli, a crisp and creamy Italian dessert with origins in Sicily, is made of pastry dough that has been molded into a tube and fried until crispy. The fried pastry is filled with orange-scented mascarpone and ricotta cheese filling and then dipped in chopped chocolate or pistachio.
Pistachio Stracciatella Gelato
"Stracciatella was always my go-to flavor," says chef and ice cream maker Fany Gerson. "In this recipe, I love putting that classic Italian flavor with another traditional Italian ingredient: pistachio. It just works." You'll need unsweetened pistachio paste to achieve the gelato's intense nutty flavor.
Fiadone (Corsican Cheesecake) with Chestnut Honey and Figs
Fiadone, a slightly sweet Corsican cheesecake, is traditionally made with brocciu, a fresh goat or sheep's milk cheese, which gives it a crumbly texture. In this recipe from pastry chef Shawn Gawle, the cheesecake is topped with chestnut honey, which pairs perfectly with sweet caramelized figs and candied lemon zest.
Tiramisu
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne
Tangy mascarpone is layered with coffee-soaked ladyfingers for an alcohol-free version of this iconic, creamy Italian dessert.
Nutty Citrus Dukka Sundaes
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Thom Driver
These sumptuous sundaes are drizzled with tahini and topped with dukka, an Egyptian blend of nuts, seeds, and spices that we’ve tailored to complement ice cream and other sweet dishes — it includes peanuts, sesame seeds, and cacao nibs flavored with orange zest and coriander.
Strawberry Ekmek Kataifi
Made from crispy shredded phyllo that's soaked in syrup and traditionally topped with custard, ekmek kataifi is a Greek dessert that perfectly balances crispy and creamy. Instead of the traditional custard, pastry chef Paola Velez's version features a vibrant strawberry pudding and a cloud of honey-flavored whipped cream.
Loukoumades
Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
These Greek doughnuts are made with a sweet dough that is fried and then tossed with honey and chopped nuts.
Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Halvah
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
In a nod to her Algerian roots, 2022 F&W Best New Chef Warda Bouguettaya studs her chocolate chip cookies with nutty, rich crumbles of halvah for a toasty and earthy variation. It's a crumbly sesame confection popular in North Africa and the Middle East; Bouguettaya likes to use halvah (labeled “halawa”) from the Lebanese company Al Kanater, which is made from tahini, sugar, marshmallow extract, and vanilla.
Saffron, Pistachio, and Rose Petal Helva
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
This creamy Turkish semolina pudding is scented with saffron and cardamom and dotted with butter-toasted pistachios.
Bougatsa
Ellen Silverman
Rosewater, saffron, and cardamom come together in chef Nasim Alikhani’s Persian take on this traditional Greek pastry that's more traditionally flavored with cinnamon.
Bunet (Chocolate Crème Caramel with Amaretti)
Bunet is a creamy, rich custard dessert hailing from Piedmont. The addition of amaretti cookies as a garnish for this chocolate version enhances the almond flavor from the crushed amaretti in the pudding while adding a lovely crunch.
Basque Cheesecake
This cheesecake's stunning caramelized-verging-on-burnt top lends a pleasant, toasty accent to the intensely rich and creamy interior. It was created in 1990 at a café in San Sebastián, Spain by chef Santiago Rivera.
Granita di Mandorla con Panna Sotto e Sopra (Almond Granita with Whipped Cream “Top and Bottom”)
Cedric Angeles
The granita in Sicily is not the stiff, icy dessert you might find elsewhere. This recipe is inspired by one served at Caffè Europa in Catania, Sicily, where granita is often enjoyed “con panna e brioche,” or with a generous cloud of lightly sweetened and freshly whipped cream and a round of supremely tender, but not overly buttery, brioche for dunking.
Lemon-Tahini Cookies
Gail Simmons created this recipe after returning home from a trip to Israel. While at a market in Tel Aviv, she'd sampled lemon halvah with cacao nibs and fell in love with the flavor profile.
Ka'ak Bi Tamer (Cinnamon-Date Paste–Filled Cookies)
Based on a traditional Lebanese recipe, League of Kitchens cooking instructor Jeanette Chawki's flaky cookies are filled with rich, nutmeg- and cinnamon-spiced date paste and topped with a combination of sesame and nigella seeds.
Karithopita (Greek Walnut and Olive Oil Cake with Orange Syrup)
In Greece, this type of nut cake is often soaked in syrup, resulting in a very sweet, moist dessert. Here, a citrus syrup filled with lots of fresh, juicy oranges is served on the side, so everyone can add as little or as much as they like.
Sfinj (Moroccan Doughnuts)
These luscious doughnuts are crispy on the outside and very fluffy and airy on the inside. They're usually served dipped in sugar or honey, but New York Shuk co-founders Leetal and Ron Arazi love to serve them with a saffron and cardamom syrup.
Moroccan Rice Pudding with Toasted Almonds
Rice pudding is prepared in one form or another all over the eastern Mediterranean. This Moroccan version is particularly delicious, perhaps because the rice is cooked in two stages; first it's boiled in water, then it's simmered in milk.
Hazelnut Baklava
The precise origin of baklava is a debated topic, but we do know that it's been around for hundreds of years in Greece, Turkey, and Persia. This particular recipe showcases Turkey's abundant hazelnut crop.
Yogurt Panna Cotta with Marmalade and Olive Oil
This tangy gelatin-thickened Italian custard is made with both cream and Greek yogurt. To serve, it's dolloped with orange marmalade, drizzled with fruity extra-virgin olive oil, and topped with a pinch of flaky sea salt.
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