Baklava Day: Different Types of Baklava From Around the World

In honor of Baklava Day, which falls on November 17th, we're sharing with you different types of baklava from around the world. But first, let's get into the origin of baklava and what it is loved. 

Baklava is a Middle Eastern dessert commonly associated with Turkey and Greece and it was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine. It is often eaten during Muslim Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.

Baklava is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts -- typically walnuts or pistachios, but hazelnuts are also sometimes used -- and sweetened with syrup or honey. 

Here are different types of baklava from around the world:

Pistachio Baklava

Pistachio baklava is the most popular and original type of baklava. Initially developed in Turkey and Syria, pistachio baklava is a rich and sweet pastry filled with ground pistachios. It is one of the most standard types of baklava you'll find and is cut into square or diamond shapes before serving.

This baklava is very mild flavored, and the pistachios provide a bit of an earthy undertone.

Cevizli Baklava

Cevizli baklava, or walnut baklava, is all about the walnut filling. These Turkish baklavas are made with layers of filo and a mixture of chopped walnuts, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla extract, and water. Walnuts are finely crushed before they are dusted between the layers of this baklava. 

Kuru Baklava

Kuru baklava, or dry baklava, is soaked in a small amount of syrup, but it is a thicker, denser sugar syrup that dries the baklava on contact.
This makes it last longer, so you can enjoy this sweet treat for about a month without going bad or crystallizing. All you need is to keep it at room temperature.

Kuru baklava tends to be sweeter than traditional baklava and highlights the flavors of the nuts and filo rather than the syrup itself. 

Sütlü Nuriye

The lightest and wettest of all the baklavas, Sütlü Nuriye is a milky type of Turkish baklava made with crushed hazelnuts. Rather than being coated entirely with a sugar coating, baklava bakers combine milk with a little bit of sugar for sweetness and pour the concoction over the baked pastry.

Bülbül Yuvası

Bülbül yuvası, or nightingale's nests, are disc-shaped baklava found in Turkey, the Middle East, and Europe. It is made by wrapping the filo dough around a thin rolling pin to resemble a nest-like shape. The center is stuffed with pistachios or walnuts and it is doused in syrupy sugar water. 

Finger Baklava

You'll see variations of these finger baklava across the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Northern Africa. Damp sheets of filo are placed down, and the nut filling is placed in a log shape on one end of the baklava. The pastry is then rolled like a cinnamon roll to the other side.