Taş Kadayıf

Taş kadayıf is a Turkish sweet made by wrapping nuts in small rounds of batter that have been cooked on one side only, then frying them and soaking them in syrup. In Antalya it is also called Arap kadayıfı. Inside, the crushed walnuts give off their aroma, while on the outside you can taste the fried dough and the sweetness of the syrup.

Cooking round wrappers, then filling and frying them

In one example from Antalya, flour that includes semolina is mixed with water and yeast to make a pourable batter. The batter is poured a little at a time onto a heated metal plate, cooked on one side only, and left to cool. A filling of walnuts, cinnamon and sugar is placed on each round cooked on one side, and the round is wrapped around it and sealed.

According to a record from Antalya, the filled pastries are coated in egg, fried and dipped in warm syrup. Walnuts or pine nuts are sometimes scattered over them after they are plated. In this finish, the wrapper is cooked first, wrapped around the filling, fried, and then soaked in syrup.

In the registered method from Adana, a batter of flour and water is poured onto an iron griddle and cooked on one side until small holes open on the top surface. Coarsely crushed walnuts are placed on the uncooked side, and the round is closed into a half-moon shape, fried and dipped in room-temperature syrup. An egg coating like the one in the Antalya example is not part of the process in this registration document.

Sweet shops and festive occasions

Ramazan Doğan, a confectioner in Malatya, pours the batter onto the griddle from a vessel with a spout, adds walnuts and closes the rounds, then fries them and puts them into cold syrup. In a 2016 interview, he said that while the sweet is sold in the shop all year round, sales increase during Ramadan, and it is also chosen as a sweet for welcoming guests during the festival. It is sometimes eaten with ice cream on the side.

Unlike sweets made by layering fine, thread-like strands of dough, taş kadayıf uses round baked wrappers to enclose a filling. Depending on the region, it is also known by names such as Arap kadayıfı and yassı kadayıf, and even under the same name, the way it is made varies.

Glossary