Syrupy Greek Desserts

Glyko Bergamonto or Bergamot fruit preserve is one of the most delicious and aromatic Greek fruit preserves (glyka tou koutaliou in Greek).

Kalon Prama, which is the Cypriot name for Samali, is a moist, eggless, semolina cake, made with sheep’s milk yoghurt, flavoured with mastic and bathed in syrup.

Diples (pronounced diip-LESS), which means folded, is another traditional Christmas sweet pastry, made in many parts of Greece especially in the Peloponnese. These are the desserts they serve at weddings, christenings, engagements etc. but are also very popular during Christmas.

Pischies is a Cypriot traditional fried pastry dessert made with dough on which it is generously brushed with olive oil, cinnamon and sugar and after shaping them they are fried in olive oil and then bathed in syrup.

Karydopita (pr. ka-ree-dho-pee-tah) is a Greek walnut cake made with lots of walnuts and bathed in a sweet syrup.   The word “karydi” (καρύδι) means walnut and “pita” (πίτα) means pie.

Glyko Karydaki, is a Greek fruit preserve of small (or young) walnuts and it is one of the best Greek traditional spoon sweets.  

If your preserves have mildew or the sugar has crystalized, don’t throw them away as today we are going to learn how to fix these preserves. 

Kattimerka, is a traditional pastry dessert, similar to pischies but instead of being fried, these are cooked in a traditional frying pan called sadji. Sadji resembles like the Arab Saj, however, unlike the Arab saj, which is dome shaped, the Cypriot sadji resembles more like a wok. You can use a wok or any non-stick sautéing pan.

A simple syrup sugar is made with sugar and water.  Usually the ratio is one part sugar and one part water,  for a medium, not very sweet syrup.