Popular Desserts From Bulgaria: Special Sweets Like Torta Garash, Funiiki s krem, And More

Written by Jheelum Basu | August 12, 2024

It's just a change in script when it comes to desserts, and Bulgaria is no exception. Here's what common dessert terms mean: cake equals ‘torta’, pies equals ‘pay’, and cheesecakes are called ‘Chizkeyk’. Chocolate becomes ‘Shokolad’, mousse becomes ‘Mus’, and pastries become ‘Sladkarski izdeliya’. The rest we'll leave for the delicious traditional Bulgarian desserts to do the talking and for you to pick up and add to your list of desserts you need to try in this lifetime.

Torta Garash: The Legendary Bulgarian Chocolate Walnut Cake

Chocolate cake, yes, Bulgaria's very own local chocolate cake made from plenty of walnuts. The walnuts are in the cake batter, in the cake sponges that are layered and sandwiched with rich chocolate. It's best eaten at room temperature because the chocolate icing or the ganache topping is at its softest. The cake has a delicate aroma when it bakes, and it's best eaten fresh, although the refrigerated version doesn't taste bad either.

Funiiki s Krem: Delicate Bulgarian Cream Rolls

Called Rurki z kremem in Poland, these simple confections are a local cream roll, which has a thin pastry shell filled with pastry cream or whipped cream. It's often labelled as a torpedo dessert because of its funnel-like shape. There are other versions of this dessert in other parts of the world, existing under different names. This dessert's birthplace is considered either Bulgaria or Turkey, although there is no conclusive evidence so far. The ingredients for the crust and the cream filling differ by country.

Banitsa: Bulgaria's Versatile Layered Pastry

This is a local Bulgarian specialty: a pastry made from thin sheets of dough and eaten for breakfast. It's made with yoghurt and brine cheese, but there's a sweet version of the Banitsa too, called Tikvenik. This one has the pastry filled with grated pumpkin, crushed walnuts, sugar, and cinnamon. It is dusted with powdered sugar after baking and sliced into smaller pieces. Since pumpkin is associated with autumn, this dessert is synonymous with winter in Bulgaria and is quite popular on Christmas Eve. There's another version of Banitsa that uses only sugar and is one of the country's oldest recipes.

Biskvitena Torta: A Delightful No-Bake Bulgarian Biscuit Cake

This translates to biscuit cake, and the sponge biscuits in the cake are a bit similar to the texture and feel of Italian ladyfingers that are used to make tiramisu. The sponge biscuits are soaked in milk or some kind of sweet syrup flavored with vanilla or rum. In between these biscuits goes either chocolate, caramel, vanilla or some kind of fruity filling. The cake is chilled and eaten later, and often topped with whipped cream.

Sutliash: Creamy Bulgarian Rice Pudding with Middle Eastern Roots

Bulgarians love their puddings too, and since there are Middle Eastern influences in the country that extend to their desserts too, they have a rice pudding they call Sutliash. It's a creamy rice pudding quite similar to kheer – rice slow-cooked in a pool of milk, sweetened with sugar and flavored with lemon zest and cinnamon.

Revane: The Syrup-Soaked Bulgarian Semolina Cake

Another dessert with Middle Eastern roots, Revane or Revani, also goes by the name of Basbousa; Bulgaria only recognises Revane. It's made with semolina that is shaped into bite-sized square or diamond cakes and soaked in sugar syrup with the usual lemon zest, juice, orange blossom, or rose water common in the region. The vivid green hue of pistachios is often used to garnish Revane.

Oshav: A Unique Bulgarian Dried Fruit Dessert Soup for Christmas Eve

Ever heard of dessert soups? Because Oshav, as saintly as it sounds, is exactly that – a Bulgarian dessert soup. Like Tikvenik, Oshav is also prepared for Christmas Eve, which is a simple stew made with dried fruits – pears, prunes, and apples. These are boiled until soft and then sweetened with honey or sugar. Spices are also added to it, mostly cinnamon and cloves, in the simmering pot of Oshav. It's best eaten cold on the eve of Christmas.

Medovik Torta: The Beloved Bulgarian Layered Honey Cake

This cake is popular in most of the countries of the former USSR, and Bulgarians love it too. Medovik is a honey cake that is famed for its delicate and moist honey-infused sponge cake layers, with a creamy filling. The filling is a mixture of condensed milk and buttercream, and the cake is such that you can taste each layer separately while savoring the whole essence of the cake at one go. It's garnished with a sprinkling of biscuit crumbs that gives it a good crunch.

Baklava

Often lovingly referred to as the ‘jewel’ of the Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean sweet delicacies, Baklava in Bulgaria simply defines indulgence like nothing else. Made from paper-thin layers of crisp phyllo dough, this crispy sweet features a delicious nutty filling drenched in fragrant honey syrup. The result is a classic, crunchy on the exterior and sweet and nutty on the inside delicacy that everyone falls in love with.

Tikvenik: Bulgarian Pumpkin Strudel

This spiral-shaped strudel brings in a golden elegance to a Bulgarian dessert platter. Made with gossamer-thin phyllo sheets, it contains a warm and spicy pumpkin and walnut filling. For some added sweetness, it is often dusted with powdered sugar and some cinnamon.