Authentic Greek recipe for 12 Greek Sweets

Baclava

This is probably one of the best-known sweets from this area of the world and quite rightly so, in my opinion! You should be able to obtain the sheets of filo pastry where you live – it’s available in most parts of the world, I believe.

Greek Walnut Cake (Karidopita)

Old ladies from high Athens society used to sit in the tea and coffee houses eating this rich walnut cake as an accompaniment to their tea and gossip. It is delicious accompanied by whipped cream! The thing to be careful with is for it to be neither too dry nor too syrupy.

Greek Pumpkin Pie With Homemade Filo Pastry (Kolokithopita)

I love these pies! They have the sweet, juicy taste of the pumpkin and the delicious filo pastry. I personally eat them with cream, but then I eat cream with just about everything! This recipe tells you how to make the filo pastry yourself.

Greek Halva (Halva Tis Rinas)

There are many types of halva, especially in the middle eastern countries. My own particular favourite is from Constantinople in Turkey, but obviously I can’t put the recipe for that in a blog with authentic Greek recipes! In Greece we have Macedonian Halva from northern Greece – a hard halva – but the manufacturers keep the recipe a secret. We also have Halva tis Rinas (Rina’s Halva) and that is the recipe that follows. Ideally it is served with some whipped cream on top, but that is optional.

Greek Orange Spoon Sweet (Gliko Koutaliou Portokali)

It’s common practice in Greece if you visit someone during the day or early evening, to be offered a spoon sweet, or ‘gliko koutaliou’. This is a sweet made from fruit and kept in a jar, to be served on sweet dish (preferrable glass) whenever someone comes. All types of fruit are used, but this particular recipe is for orange. It’s really easy to make and is a delightful sweet to eat.

Greek Sweet Orange Pie (Portokalopita)

A delicious, refreshing pie for the hot summer months! It can also be served warm, but I much prefer it cold. It can also be served with ice cream. Mmmm!

Greek Baked Quince With Yoghurt (Kidoni me Yaourti)

This is a really, really simple sweet to prepare – but so delicious! Quince is one of my favourite fruits and when it’s baked and served with yoghurt and honey…. Well, just try it for yourself! The yoghurt should be Greek strained yoghurt and the honey should preferrably be Greek as well.

Greek Apple Pie (Milopita)

My mother had this recipe since she was a young girl and it was popular in the north of Greece at that time. It’s more of an accompaniment to tea or coffee rather than a sweet at the end of a meal as other apple pies are. Of course, you can eat it with cream (I do!) and it has a nice ‘squidgy’ apple filling and soft dough.

Ravani

This is a very simple, tasty little sweet. You can have it to accompany your coffee or tea. Nice and easy to make, too!

Pasta Flora Tart

This is a traditional Greek sweet, which I remember from childhood always being served with the coffee or juice whenever we went on family visits. It is more often than not baked in a square or rectangular dish, but can also be baked in a circular shape, as you can see from the photo.
The fruit in the recipe here is quince – for the simple reason that it is my favourite! – but other fruit can also be used, most notably sweetened grapes in syrup.

Galaktoboureko

Delicious sweet, similar in some ways to British custard pie (but much tastier!) with a tang of orange.

Greek Must Cookies (Moustokouloura)

These cookies are a tasty accompaniment for your coffee or tea. They have the distinctive taste of must – which is taken from the pressed grapes before it is made into wine – and a hint of cinnamon. You can make them either soft or crispy, depending on your preference.