Asian Desserts

Zhent is a traditional Kazakh no-bake dessert made with toasted ground millet, sugar, butter, and raisins. It's soft, crumbly, and incredibly satisfying; just a small piece goes a long way!

Toasting the millet filled my kitchen with the most delicious nutty aroma. You will find various versions of the recipe online, I loved the variation that left a portion of the millet whole for texture, though it definitely made things a little extra crumbly (my attempt to dip it chocolate was a tad optimistic).

Some articles mention cottage cheese as an ingredient, but all the authentic Kazakh recipes left it out, so I did too!

Pishme is a soft sweeten fried bread-like snack. This Turkmen snack that is served with green tea during celebrations. It was traditionally a non-sweet snack but with the addition of sugar to the recipe, Pishme is now thought of as a sweet treat.

One of the best things about baking around the world is discoveries like Bing Pi Due Bing aka Snow Skin Mooncakes. The ingredients for traditional mooncakes proved too difficult and too expensive to source during the lockdown. Much to my delight, food blogger Red House Spice‘s recipe for mooncakes included a link to snow skin mooncakes; a no-bake version of mooncakes with ingredients easily found at your local Chinese supermarket.

Snow skin mooncakes, named so because of their white sticky outer layer, originates from Hong Kong but are now very popular in China. They are given their colourful appearance with natural ingredients such as matcha and purple yam powder, and are filled with a variety of sweet fillings.

Egg tarts and pineapple buns are iconic Hong Kong desserts and both have the honour of being listed as part of the Hong Kong Government’s intangible cultural heritage.

You’d be surprised to hear that pineapple buns don’t contain pineapple. The name comes from the sweet custard flavoured crust on the top of the sweet fluffy milk bread bun that is said to resemble a pineapple. For a true Hong Kong experience, eat the pineapple buns warm with a slab of butter.

Egg tarts found their way to Hong Kong from Guangahou in the 1940s and are based on the English custard tart. What makes the Hong Kong egg tart different from other nations’ is the sweet cookie-like pastry and the yellow custard which uses evaporated milk and whole eggs instead of normal milk and yolks.

Egg tarts recipe can be found here and the recipe for pineapple buns here.

Ichigo Daifuku! Soft, chewy mochi filled with shiroan (sweet white bean paste) and a fresh, juicy strawberry. A delicate balance of sweetness and texture that’s pure joy in every bite!

Macau’s almond cookies were originally named so because of their almond like shape. The recipe has since evolved to now include ground almonds (almond flour). This crumbly confectionary consists of two key ingredients, mung bean flour and almond flour. If you can’t find mung bean flour, the almond cookie recipe from The Hong Kong Cookery includes instructions on how to make your own.

Pithas are a delightful category of South Asian treats (think pancakes, dumplings, or fritters) served either sweet or savoury. One beloved variety is Bhapa Pitha, a steamed rice cake popular in Bengali and Assamese homes. Made from rice flour and filled with a warm, fragrant mix of coconut and jaggery, it’s a comforting bite of tradition and sweetness.

Khabzey, a sweet fried biscuit, are made for special occasions like Losar, the Bhutanese New Year, and are used as offerings at the Lhakhang. The biscuits can be made into various delicate shapes such as flowers and plaits, and simple ones such as twists and kulkuls.

For the dough recipe and instructions on how to make the simple shapes I used The Druk Girl's, a Bhutanese food blogge, reciper. If you are feeling more adventurous, there are a number of videos on YouTube which show you how to make the more delicate shapes or colourful khapzey.

Cream Jehi Banas are a favourite treat for Maldivians, both young and old. Simple to make, all you need is 5 ingredients; buns (the closest I could find to the Maldivian butter bun was brioche buns), sweetened condensed milk, sugar, vanilla essence, and food colouring. With my sweet tooth even I found the banas to be too sweet with all that sugar.

Watalappan is a silky coconut custard pudding made with coconut milk, eggs, fragrant spices, and sweetened by jaggery - an unrefined sugar traditionally extracted from palm trees. The result is light and creamy, yet enriched with a deep, caramel-like sweetness and a gentle spiced warmth. A simple dessert on the surface but one that delivers a beautifully layered flavour in every spoonful.

Pinjaram, also known as UFO cake, is a traditional sweet snack for the Bajau and Bruneian Malay people. It's best eaten warm while the edges are still crispy and the centre still spongy.

Traditionally the flavours of pinjaram are plain, pandan, and brown sugar. My attempt to make brown sugar pinjaram was a baking disaster! It was the same recipe for the plain and pandan version, with the exception of replacing the white sugar with brown. I don't know what went wrong. Too much brown sugar, perhaps? The plain and pandan version worked perfectly (IMO) and were delicious fresh from the wok. Loved the contrast of the crispy edges and soft centre.

Nam Wan is a sweetened coconut dessert drink from Laos made with toppings such as coloured tapioca pearls, lychee jelly, jackfruit in syrup & khao lod song. It’s a totally versatile dessert, you can add whatever Southeast Asian topping you wish!

Gata comes in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the region. This version is most popular in Armenia’s capital city, Yerevan; dough rolled up with sweet vanilla filling giving you a pastry which is crisp on the outside with sweetness laced between the folds.

Badambura is delicately made with thin layers of pastry then filled with sweet almond filling which has a hint of spice. The above photo was my second attempt (the first I didn’t roll the pastry sheets tight enough so the filling spilled out). Fun fact, Badambura means almond pie.

This delicious pastry from Cyprus is filled with tahini, sugar, and cinnamon. This tahini-based pastry is a staple of Cypriot cuisine and can be found in most Cypriot bakeries

There are so many delicious Persian sweets to choose from making the decision on what dessert to bake! It was kolompeh which pique my curiosity the most. Its delicate pattern and the spiced date and walnut filling, provided the biggest challenge. Not only do I love a good challenge, it gave me a good excuse to buy yet another fancy gadget. My attempt to make edge pattern was a mess to say the least, I’ll leave that to the experts.

Daheen is a popular, incredibly rich Iraqi dessert that originates from the southern city of Najaf. While it is enjoyed across Iraq, Najaf remains the undisputed capital of daheen, with visitors flocking to the city's Grand Souf to buy fresh slabs of this intensely sweet treat.

Known by various names, including Dehina, Dihina Halawa and Dihiniyya Halawa Najafiyya, the dessert takes its name from dihin, the Arabic word for the rich clarified butter traditionally used in its preparation.

Rich, fudgy, and wonderfully indulgent, daheen melts in your mouth, leaving behind hints of coconut, cardamom, and dates. It is traditionally cut into squares and served warm alongside strong, unsweetened Arabic coffee or tea to, whose bitterness provides the perfect balance its sweetness.

This decadent dessert from Jordan is made from shredded filo on fresh white cheese (akawi), drenched in rose and orange blossom flavoured sugar syrup. Akawi cheese was impossible to find locally so I took Chef Tariq’s advice by substituting it with mozzarella.

Ger Ogaily is a fragrant saffron and cardamom cake that’s as beautiful as it is delicious. This traditional dessert is known for its rich aroma and delicate texture, often served during celebrations and gatherings. With a golden hue and a hint of rosewater, every slice feels like a celebration of flavour and culture.

Mutabbaq or mutabak is a traditional Palestinian dessert from Hebron. This delicious sweet roll is filled with a warming spiced walnut filling and drenched in sugar syrup, perfect for a winter sweet treat.This was my first time making filo pastry. While I didn’t get it as paper thin as it should be, the final result was still a crisp and flaky pastry. You don’t have to make the filo from scratch! You can simplify the recipe by using pre-made filo. My mutabbaq turned out smaller than the recipe photos because my small was different to the author’s small – I didn’t even register the difference until the next day. The taste is there and the mini mutabbaq are perfect as a treat with a cup of tea.

Esh Asaraya, also known as Aish Al Saraya, is a Qatari dessert which is a cross between bread pudding and cheesecake. Translating to ‘bread of a royal castle, esh asaraya consists of a bread base drenched in sugar syrup with a sweet creamy topping flavoured with rose and orange blossom waters. Eaten cold, it’s the perfect dessert for summer.

Originating from Homs in Syria, Halawet el Jibn is dessert made of semolina and cheese dough, filled with a clotted cream filling called qashta. You can serve it with an orange blossom flavoured syrup, but I agree with the author of the recipe, the sweet dough gives Halawet el Jibn the right level of sweetness.

The recipe calls for Akkawi cheese, if you can't find Akkawi then mozzarella is a good substitute.

Khanfaroosh (or khanfaroush) is a popular saffron and cardamom doughnut from the Middle East.

Bint al-sahn — “the daughter of the plate” — is a beloved Yemeni pastry made of soft, buttery layers of dough, sprinkled with black cumin seeds and served warm with a generous drizzle of honey. Light, flaky, and deeply comforting.