While Lent ends at Easter for many, Ramadan is in full swing. After a long time without sugar, the sweet pastries entice some with their south-eastern aromas, while others fight hypoglycemia after sunset with the syrup bites. Baklava is not just baklava. Actually, the term does not only describe the honey-sweet pastries, but only one of many sweets. Ingredients and preparation also vary greatly depending on tradition. But it doesn’t matter whether it’s Greek, Turkish or Syrian – if you want to put something different in your basket at Easter, you’ll find a tempting alternative with baklava.
Sultan baking paradise
In addition to baklava classics, the Sultan also has its own specialties such as baklava tiramisu.
(Photo: Sultan Baking Paradise)
In the sultan (Goethestraße 30) you will find freshly baked sweets according to Turkish tradition. The homemade yufka dough is laid out in 32 thin layers over a tray and filled with nuts. Here only the special pistachios from Antep are allowed in the delicacies, real butter and the best walnuts. “There are no ifs and buts for us,” says Ahmet Özdemir, part of the management. Finally, the bakery and confectionery also represented Turkish culture. Quality and freshness are the most important things.
The baklava is best eaten right after it has soaked up the syrup. Nevertheless, they are not too sweet and are nice and crunchy: “Like crushing a dry autumn leaf in your hand,” that’s what it must sound like when you bite into it, then the baklava is perfect. If you let your gaze wander over the many trays, the pistachio crumbs and the sugar syrup mirror, you will also discover what looks like tiramisu. But what is hidden under the cocoa layer is also baklava. A recipe that the family business brought back from Turkey just a few years ago. Instead of syrup, the pistachio-filled puff pastry packets are covered with a mixture of milk and sugar and then sprinkled with the chocolate topping. An exceptional dessert to try here alongside the classics.
Nawa sweets
The display alone draws people into the shop: around 30 types of baklava are stacked on the golden plates in the Nawa.
(Photo: Nawa Sweets)
Towers of baklava in the shop window are already luring people into the store. The variety of varieties and the friendliness of the vendors at Nawa sweets (Landwehrstraße 31) should also convince skeptics. Around thirty varieties are stacked on the golden plates. The layman calls them all baklava, but the names known to the expert here are almost endless. According to Syrian tradition, they are made without eggs, but with ghee and vegetable fat, which makes them last longer. And that without additives and only with the best ingredients, that is very important to the owner Abdulkarim Mohamad. It offers sanctuary to anyone looking for something sweet – this is the meaning of the Kurdish name Nawa. A special tip for an Easter with an oriental touch: the small donuts made from the thread-like dough called angel’s hair filled with whole pistachios look like Easter baskets and captivate with their sweet crunchiness.
Mochaccino Cafe
The Greek café has an interior as cute as its baked goods mocha cino (Lindwurmstrasse 12). Pink and pink flowers adorn walls and ceilings, and guests include a few giant teddy bears. Many an Instagram friend pulls out his cell phone to take selfies with bears. Pretty tarts and Greek baklava are on display in showcases in the middle of the light-flooded room. These look like little stacks of layers of puff pastry with the syrup oozing out between them. Some of them got a splash of chocolate ganache in the patisserie. A feast for the eyes for that reason alone, these specialties impress with their particularly aromatic walnut filling, the taste of which is wonderfully intensified by the dark cocoa cream.
Melik Sweets
In the Melik, the sweet delicacies are displayed like pieces of jewellery.
(Photo: Melik Sweets)
At Melik Sweets (Sonnenstraße 10), the baklava are displayed like jewels in front of shiny copper pots like those from the Arabian Nights. All sorts of special things can be found among the approximately 30 varieties. Because in addition to the classic fillings with pistachios and walnuts, you can also find Syrian sweets with almonds and cashews. These have a very fine taste and are reminiscent of roasted almonds. There is also a variety with chocolate in yufka dough. You can nibble this variety of oriental sweets in a total of three branches. Melik Sweets has been around since 2009, which was a novelty in Munich at the time. The name is borrowed from the son of the owner Mohammed Hussein and also means “king”. Appropriate, if you look at the noble displays.
Erbil’s
“You can’t eat anything you stroke” – according to this philosophy, Erbil’s in Haidhausen (Breisacher Straße 13) offers Mediterranean, Turkish specialties free of animal products. For their baklava, which you can order for dessert, that means vegetable oils instead of butter and grape syrup instead of honey. The extra-large, walnut-filled puff pastry packages are at least as crispy as the originals, but not too sweet. In this way, the fine taste of the yufka dough can be presented well. These full-bodied pastries can be a real feast for the soul, and at the same time they are doing good: Erbil’s is a member of the Munich Animal Welfare Association and collects donations for animals.
Layali Alsham sweets
The expression “small but mighty” fits both the Layali Alsham (Landwehrstraße 26) and the goods that can be bought there. Syrian baklava in 20 varieties are gathered between the indicated, Far Eastern-looking pillars. According to tradition, these are rather dry and contain lots of pistachios. A special recommendation are the bulging donuts with nut filling, which look and have the same name as a thick bracelet: They are sweet, crunchy and put the delicious puff pastry in the foreground.
Keko
The dessert specialty in the Turkish restaurant “Keko”: Oreo baklava served with fruit and cream.
(Photo: Restaurant Keko)
A dessert classic with a modern twist – that’s what the restaurant is for Keko (Mariahilfstraße 24) known to its guests. They’re not on the menu, but those interested in dessert at this down-to-earth Turkish eatery will be offered Oreo baklavas, nicely served with fruit and cream. About two years ago, the idea came up of grinding the popular biscuits and using them as a filling instead of the nut mixture. After some tinkering, the ideal recipe finally emerged: “Many approach it with the attitude that it might be too sweet, since the original baklava is also a very sweet dessert,” says Ersan Altin. He and his twin brother have been running the family business since 2017. They are now the third generation and the chocolatey and creamy Oreo baklava has become their trademark. Guests appreciate her hospitality as much as her innovation in desserts.
earnings
The Turkish “supermarket” Verdi also has its own bakery with trays full of baklava.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
Hidden between fragrant vegetable displays and spice shelves in the back of the Turkish supermarket Verdi (Landwehrstraße 46) is its own bakery. The glass counter is dominated by trays full of baklava, traditionally filled with pistachios and walnuts. Anyone who prefers to eat their baklava traditionally sweet and sticky will find what they are looking for in the colourful, bustling atmosphere of the shop. The ready-made yufka dough and the noodle-like angel hair are also available ready-made for ambitious home bakers.