Turkey has a serious sweet tooth, and its desserts range from syrupy pastries to delicate milk puddings first made in the Ottoman palace kitchens. Here are ten to try on your trip.

1. Baklava

Layers of paper-thin pastry filled with chopped pistachios or walnuts and soaked in syrup. Gaziantep’s pistachio baklava is the most famous, and it has protected geographical status in the EU.

2. Künefe

Shredded pastry layered with soft, stretchy cheese, baked until crisp and served hot with syrup and pistachios. It comes from Hatay in the south.

3. Turkish delight (lokum)

Soft cubes of starch and sugar, flavoured with rose, lemon or pomegranate, or packed with nuts. Buy it fresh from a specialist shop rather than in airport boxes.

4. Sütlaç

Creamy baked rice pudding with a caramelised top, often dusted with cinnamon. A comforting classic in every lokanta.

5. Kazandibi

A milk pudding with a deliberately burnt, caramelised base. Its name means “bottom of the cauldron”.

6. Tavuk göğsü

Yes, it really does contain finely shredded chicken breast, but you won’t taste it. It is a silky milk pudding dating back to the Ottoman palace kitchens.

7. Maraş dondurma

Stretchy, chewy ice cream made with salep (orchid root flour) and mastic. Street vendors put on a show, teasing customers with the cone.

8. Aşure

Also called Noah’s pudding, a mix of grains, pulses, dried fruit and nuts, traditionally made in large batches and shared with neighbours.

9. Kadayıf

Shredded pastry baked with nuts and syrup. Try it in its many forms, including the crunchy pistachio-filled “burma” rolls.

10. Lokma

Small fried dough balls soaked in syrup, sold hot from street stalls and often handed out free at local celebrations.

Pastry shops (pastane) and pudding shops (muhallebici) are found in every town. Order a tea or Turkish coffee alongside, and don’t be shy about trying a few.