12 Greek Desserts That Are as Sweet as Vacation
Whether you’re looking to punctuate a Greek feast or seeking a dessert with simple sophistication, we have a host of recipes that highlight the sweeter side of Greek cuisine. With its layers of flaky phyllo, nuts, and honeyed syrup, baklava is rightfully a popular choice; here, we offer a chocolate-hazelnut version as well as a sublime baklava cheesecake and a fun baklava pie that can be made with your choice of crust and nuts. There are fried delights, too, including Greek doughnuts called loukoumades and delicate rolled diples coated in honey, plus cakes, cookies, and more desserts featuring phyllo. These are our favorite takes on Greek desserts.
Vasilopita (Greek New Year’s Day Cake)
Food & Wine / Photo by Brie Goldman / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Natalie Ghazali
Flavored with orange, brandy, cinnamon, and cloves, this aromatic cake recipe comes from Argiro Barbarigou of Papadakis restaurant in Athens, Greece. There, it’s traditionally eaten at dawn on New Year’s Day to bring good luck, but you needn’t wait until January to try it for yourself.
Chocolate-Hazelnut Baklava
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Hazelnuts, chocolate, cinnamon, and honey make this baklava from Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, stand out; it’s rich and sweet enough to satisfy you after a big meal.
Bougatsa
Ellen Silverman
Decadent and creamy, traditional Greek bougatsa is made by baking together layers of flaky phyllo and velvety custard. Chef Nasim Alikhani gives hers a Persian spin by flavoring it with rosewater, saffron, and cardamom rather than the usual cinnamon.
Loukoumades
Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Loukoumades are essentially Greek doughnut holes, though the sweet dough is scooped rather than punched out of a full-sized ring. Once fried, they’re tossed in a mix of melted butter, honey, and cinnamon, then sprinkled with chopped nuts.
Baklava Cheesecake
Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
With its crisp pistachio-graham crust, creamy filling laced with orange, cinnamon, and cardamom, and shredded phyllo and honeyed pistachio topping, this dramatic Greek-inspired dessert is worthy of a grand occasion.
Strawberry Ekmek Kataifi
Traditional ekmek kataifi is composed of shredded phyllo that’s soaked in syrup and layered with custard. Here, 2021 F&W Best New Chef Paola Velez replaces the custard with a luscious strawberry pudding and a dollop of honey-flavored whipped cream, still capturing the crispy-creamy balance of the original.
Nutty Baklava Pie
This pecan pie-baklava mashup is at once crunchy, sticky, and sweet. Use your choice of mixed nuts and prepared piecrust to customize it to your liking, and don’t forget the bursts of phyllo for a crispy, festive flare.
Kourampiedes (Greek Christmas Cookies)
The simple flavors of butter, sugar, almonds, and vanilla shine in these crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth Greek holiday cookies.
Karithopita (Greek Walnut and Olive Oil Cake with Orange Syrup)
Fragrant with olive oil, walnuts, and warm spices, this cake is lightened by whipped egg whites and made extra moist with the addition of Greek yogurt. It’s served with a sweet-tart citrus syrup for tangy pops of color.
Diples (Fried Greek Pastry with Honey and Nuts)
A basic four-ingredient dough is passed through a pasta rolling machine and formed into ultra-thin cigars that fry up to be impossibly light and crispy. They’re tossed in an orange- and cinnamon-infused honey syrup and dusted with chopped nuts before they disappear off the serving platter.
Kourambiedes
These slice-and-bake shortbread cookies get their simple yet sophisticated flavor from a touch of cloves, a shot of brandy, and plenty of butter. Be sure to beat the butter for 10 minutes to achieve the signature light texture.
Tirokroketes (Greek Fried Goat Cheese Balls) with Honey
Wine aficionado Victoria Moore’s golden fried tirokroketes are sweet-savory balls of fresh goat cheese coated in breadcrumbs and drizzled with honey that can be served as an appetizer or dessert.
