There are many desserts that are preferred in Turkish cuisine during Ramadan. These Ramadan sweets are Baklava, Künefe, Irmik Helvası (or semolina dessert), sutlac and tres leches (trilece). These desserts add to the kind, welcoming and sharing aura of the Ramadan as they bring people together during a Ramadan dinner.
What kind of dessert should be preferred for dinner (Iftar) during Ramadan?
It might be difficult to refrain from eating and drinking from sunrise until sunset when fasting. Even though many people look forward to iftar because they may eat a variety of delicacies, it’s important to be cautious. Gaining weight might result from losing control. After fasting hours, blood sugar levels drop considerably, which frequently results in a yearning for sweets. But it’s important to consider what you serve for dessert, whether it’s suhur or iftar.
Date is one of the advised sweets for Ramadan. Breaking the fast with a date is recommended because it helps manage blood sugar levels and reduces the urge for sweets immediately after Iftar. Avoiding dessert immediately after iftar is another important tip. It is preferable to have sweets as a snack in between meals two hours after breaking your fast. Dessert soon after breaking your fast will overwork your stomach since it will attempt to digest everything at once after hours of rest.
For Ramadan, it is advised to eat desserts that are nutritious, for energy will be needed for the rest of the day. Also, light desserts that are rich in fibre, carbohydrates and healthy fats will be a good choice as they help stabilize blood sugar levels. Fresh fruits, nuts, yoghurt-based treats, and whole-grain sweets like oatmeal cookies or granola bars are also perfect desserts for Ramadan. Overly sugary or fried desserts should be avoided, for they can cause energy crashes during the day.
Light and Delicious Milk Desserts: Sutlac and Tres Leches (Trilece)
Light milk desserts like Sutlac and Tres Leches (Trilece) are two of the most preferred Ramadan sweets. They are great for Ramadan because they’re refreshing and provide a gentle energy boost after fasting. They’re satisfying without feeling heavy and offer essential nutrients like protein and calcium from the milk.
The dessert called rice pudding is made by cooking rice in milk or water with spices including raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla. It is flexible enough to be served as a main meal or dessert. It is frequently sweetened with sugar in dessert varieties and it is a creamy, thick, and a light milk-based dessert. In Turkey, sutlac is a well-liked dessert that is frequently offered at festive events like weddings and religious festivals.
Tres Leches is one of the Ramadan sweets. It means “three milks” in Spanish, and it is a well-liked sweet. It is made up of a sponge cake or other similar pastry that has been dipped in a concoction of heavy cream, evaporated milk, as well as condensed milk. Caramel or vanilla can be used to flavour tres leches cake, which is usually topped with meringue or whipped cream. It is a popular dessert for parties along with special events because of its rich, moist texture. As it is a light milk-based dessert, it is one of the recommended sweets for Ramadan.
The Gift of Turkish Cuisine: Baklava
Sweetened with syrup as well as honey, baklava is a dessert made of layers of thin filo pastry (or yufka) sheets filled with chopped nuts. Baklava is one of the Ramadan desserts that holds cultural and social significance. In a Ramadan dinner, people share food and help those in need, and baklava signifies being sharing and kind.
Baklava, a dessert for Ramadan and other occasions can be prepared using large pans. Yufka or filo dough is used to create many layers which are separated with oils or melted butter. Pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds can be used as a layer after they are chopped. The filo dough or yufka is cut into pieces, like triangles, diamonds, rectangles and often parallelograms. Then, it is set into the oven to be baked. After the dough has been baked, a syrup made with honey, sugar, rosewater or orange flower water is poured over the dessert. Then, as the last step, baklava is left to be soaked in this syrup.
Künefe and Kadayif with Milk or Tea After Dinner
During Ramadan, kunefe and kadayif are popular desserts that are usually eaten with milk or tea after supper. Künefe is a dessert that is comprised of layers of mozzarella cheese, and shredded filo dough. The filo dough is cooked till it looks golden and crispy. Then a syrup is poured over the dessert, and it is topped with crushed pistachios.
Kadayif is made with chopped nuts stacked between layers of shredded filo dough, cooked till golden brown, and then covered with syrup. Both desserts have a nice combination of flavours and textures that make them a great way to break the fast for the day. Because they are so simple to make and so tasty, they are a favourite treat for families and friends gathering together to break their fast during Ramadan.
With or Without Ice Cream: Irmik Tatlisi (Semolina Dessert)
Semolina Dessert, also known as Irmik Tatlısı, is a well-liked sweet dessert from Turkey that is consumed on special occasions and throughout Ramadan. It is basically prepared by cooking semolina, sugar, butter, and milk together to produce a pudding-like consistency. Semolina dessert is a dessert for Ramadan that is creamy and aromatic. In it, nuts such as pistachios or almonds can be added to create some varieties and to give more taste and texture to the dessert. It is possible to serve this Ramadan dessert warm and cold. But, some people like to have a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top. This dessert is enjoyed whether or not there is a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, and it is definitely a great dessert to have on a Ramadan dinner.
