The Best Pastry Shops in the Middle East

Syrup and ghee

Sweets in the Middle East are made with syrup, nuts and clarified butter. Baklava is thin sheets of pastry layered with pistachios or walnuts. Kunafa, spelled künefe in Turkey, is shredded pastry baked over soft cheese and soaked in syrup while hot. Basbousa is a semolina cake soaked in syrup, and in Cairo it is the usual thing to order. The pieces are very sweet, so a small plate is enough for one person.

Istanbul

Karaköy Güllüoğlu is a large baklava shop near Galataport with self-service seating indoors and in a courtyard. Customers carry a tray to the till, and tea is ordered and collected separately with the receipt. Most people order the cold milk baklava, called soğuk baklava, or one of the pistachio kinds, and there are gluten-free and vegan versions. Hafız Mustafa near Sultanahmet is a dessert café in a semi-basement room down a staircase, open until around 1 am, with baklava, künefe, milk puddings and complimentary tea or Turkish delight.

Cairo and Amman

The two Cairo shops are counters for buying sweets to take home. El Helmeya Pastry makes its basbousa and kunafa with ghee and takes cash only. Mandarine Koueider in Zamalek sells Eastern and Western sweets by the box along with ice cream, and staff hand out tastings before customers choose. It packs travel boxes on request, though the cream-filled sweets do not travel well. In both shops staff expect a tip. Habibah Sweets in Amman sells kunafa and takes phone orders for celebration cakes and for boxes packed for travel.