10 Egyptian Desserts for Foodies

Disclaimer for the sweet tooth: this post might stir the sugar lover in you and you may lose your calm if you are in any kind of no-sugar-diet. Just the word SUGAR leaves a lingering taste in your mouth. Imagine having some of the most delicious Egyptian desserts, it will be worth every penny you spend. The desserts famous in Egypt come from diverse culture and background but some are so popular that Egyptian people adopted the dishes and now it is widely known in the country as Egyptian delights. Let us find out more about some of Egyptian desserts.

1. Basbousa and Harisa

This dish is prepared with semolina, butter, sugar, and yogurt, garnished with pistachios and other seasonal nuts. It looks like semolina cake and cut in slices to serve at any time of the day because sweet tooth does not need any occasion to hog into a sweet dish. You can find Basbousa anywhere in Egypt, but the once Cairo offers are quite different in taste.

2. Zalabya

Zalabya is a famous Egyptian dessert that is found in most of the Arab region and yet Egyptians do it the best. The name has a very interesting meaning in Egypt, the dish Zalabya means the judge's food, this small-fried balls of dough is dipped in honey syrup and sprinkled with your choice of toppings. Sometimes the fried balls are also dipped in chocolate, which of course enhanced the flavour.

3. Kahk

This sweet dish is again quite famous during the month of Ramadan. The sad part is, there is a crisis of these sweet cookies/cakes after the month of Ramadan. You will be surprised to know the origin or age of these cookies, the dish dates back to pharaoh’s times, the interesting story behind these cookies/cakes is that the wives of pharaohs use to cook this sweet dish for the priests. The dish is prepared with sugar; lots of butter, and yeast, the cakes are prepared one week before Ramadan and shared with family and friends.

4. Kunafa

This dish has some of the delicious fillings like cream and nuts, and then the pockets are covered with sugar and lemon syrup. You can find this dish in almost every sweet shop across Egypt. The dish is more popular during Ramadan but sold throughout the year due to its demand. However, there is a difference in how the locals cook this dish, it is much different than the sweet shops. The natives cook it in an Ottoman way, and the serving is one with sour cream or sweet syrup.

5. Batata (Baked sweet potatoes)

In the onset of winter, you can smell the roasted aroma of baked sweet potatoes. It is taken as an ultimate energy provider, throughout Egypt, this sweet snack is one of the well-known Egyptian desserts, and it is found in small carts with smoky steams coming out of the small wood fire. This sweet dish is cooked in consumed in demand in Egypt.

6. Umm Ali

The word Umm in Arabic means mother and Ali (RA) is the name of a famous companion if the prophet. The dish means Ali’s mother. This dessert is a must-try dish when you are visiting Egypt, find it anywhere and have it because you are going to miss a delight if you do not. The dish is prepared with puffed pastry soaked ion milk, nuts, coconut flakes, sugar, and other ingredients. The assembled dish is then placed in the oven, this sweet dish tastes unreal with some hot milk.

7. Sweet Goulash

Typically known worldwide as baklava, Egypt has a special liking for this layered dessert. It is filled with pistachios and other nuts in Turkey, Morocco and the Levant, and is covered in sugar. Every city serves their different flavors of baklava, and they are all tasty and dreamy, Egypt serves it with stuffed cream, soaked in syrup and garnished with nuts and raisins. What a delight!

8. Egyptian Jalebi

Jalebi is also very prominent in Egypt, a popular sweet in Iran and India but it is mostly called meshabek in Egypt. It is normally golden in color and tiny in most places around the world, but it has more of a clear crystal color here and is bigger. It is made from thick, circular-shaped frying flour and soaked in sugar syrup. The crunchy texture brings out the best in the dish, and it will tickle your taste buds and leave you asking for more.

9. Rice pudding

This desert may not have an Egyptian origin but it is certainly very common around Egypt. Found in different parts of the world, this is produced by combining rice, water and milk. Ingredients which are optional include raisins, nuts and cinnamon. Recipes differ according to where they are based. The ingredients are prepared in Cairo the best. The toppings are usually done with pistachios, cream, nuts, and some even dust them with sugar powder. The best part about the dish is that it is not very expensive.

10. Sweet Feteer

The favorite kinds of sweet feteers are those containing caster cream, pineapple, chocolate and nuts. Watching the feteer making process is a mesmerizing experience, as the cook prepares the dough in rapid movements that depict incredible precision and strength. The dish is necessary offer in any Egyptian village, the flaky texture and layered pastry is the Egyptian specialty. The most popular Feteer is found with ingredients like those that milk and honey served with a garnish of white powdered sugar.

Final Delight

These delights are so tasty that it just leaves you asking for more, the sugar melts in your mouth and the crispy texture of some of the dishes are just too unreal to forget. The flavors are so dynamic that it fits the taste buds of a person who does not like sugar much. These delicious dishes have won a million hearts and are still being modified and presented in various ways around the world.

Sweet lovers should not miss these desserts while visiting Egypt. Even if you are setting your foot for an hour, find some of these Egyptian desserts.