Turkish cuisine is the cuisine of Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. It is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion of Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern European cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including those of Southeast Europe (Balkans), Central Europe, and Western Europe. The Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm taking influences from Mesopotamian cuisine, Arab cuisine, Persian cuisine, Armenian cuisine, Greek cuisine, Levantine cuisine, Egyptian cuisine, Balkan cuisine, along with traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia, creating a vast array of specialities. Turkish cuisine also includes dishes invented in the Ottoman palace kitchen.
Trifle is a layered dessert of English origin. The usual ingredients are a thin layer of sponge fingers or sponge cake soaked in sherry or another fortified wine, a fruit element, custard and whipped cream layered in that order in a glass dish. The contents of a trifle are highly variable and many varieties exist, some forgoing fruit entirely and instead using other ingredients, such as chocolate, coffee or vanilla. The fruit and sponge layers may be suspended in fruit-flavoured jelly, and these ingredients are usually arranged to produce three or four layers. The assembled dessert can be topped with whipped cream or, more traditionally, syllabub.
A macaroon is a small cake or cookie, originally made from ground almonds, egg whites, and sugar, and now often with coconut or other nuts. They may also include jam or chocolate or other flavorings.
Dutch cuisine is formed from the cooking traditions and practices of the Netherlands. The country's cuisine is shaped by its location in the fertile North Sea river delta of the European Plain, giving rise to fishing, farming and overseas trade. The Burgundian-Habsburg court enriched the cuisine of the Dutch elite in the 15th and 16th century, so did the colonial spice trade in the 17th century.
Amaretto is an almond-flavored Italian liqueur.
A macaron or French macaroon is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and often food colouring.
Rosette cookies are thin, cookie-like fritters made with iron molds that are found in many cultures. Rosettes are crispy and typified by their lacy pattern.
Pignolo are a type of cookie originating in Sicilian cuisine. It is a popular cookie in all of Southern Italy, and in Sicilian communities in the United States.
Ricciarelli are traditional Italian biscuits – specifically, a type of macaroon – originating in 14th century Siena. It is considered one of the signature sweets of Siena, in addition to panforte, cenci, and cavallucci.
Acıbadem kurabiyesi is a traditional Turkish biscuit made of almonds, sugar and egg whites. The traditional recipes include a small amount of bitter almonds, which gives this cookie its name. However, because bitter almonds are not readily available, almond extract is typically used as a substitute. These biscuits are part of the stock-in trade of almost every bakery in Turkey, and are seldom made at home.
Amaretti di Saronno are a type of amaretto, a bitter-sweet flavored macaroon, that is traditional to Saronno, a comune of Lombardy, Italy. It is one of many types of traditional amaretti, but the only one made with apricot kernels.
Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes, and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615). Still, the cake was much more like a cracker: thin and crispy. Sponge cakes became the cake recognised today when bakers started using beaten eggs as a rising agent in the mid-18th century. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe, resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in many flavours and have many recipes as well. Sponge cakes have become snack cakes via the Twinkie.
Bruttiboni, also known as Mandorlati di San Clemente and Brutti ma buoni, is a type of hazelnut or almond-flavoured biscuit made in Prato, Central Italy, and many other cities. The name translates to 'ugly but good'. These cookies are made by incorporating meringue; an egg white and sugar mixture; with roasted chopped nuts. The cookies are crunchy on the outside with a soft texture in the middle. As with many other Italian cookies, their origin is disputed but they have been made since at least the mid-1800s.
Qurabiya, is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. Versions are found in most Arab and Ottoman cuisines, with various different forms and recipes. They are similar to polvorones from Andalusia.
Flour kurabiye is a kind of Turkish cookie that is made from butter, sunflower oil, baking powder, and the namesake ingredient flour. Generally, vanilla powder is also added. Flour kurabiye is a variant of kurabiye.
Kavala Almond Cookies, Kavala Cookies or Edirne Almond Cookies (Turkish: Edirne Bademli Kurabiyesi) is a kurabiye from Turkish cuisine. The Kavala cookie is made with almond, flour and butter. The kurabiye gets its name from Kavala. The modern recipe of the cookie originated during the Ottoman Empire.
