Güllaç is a light, milky, and fluffy Turkish dessert made with layers of starch wafers soaked in sweetened warm milk. This delicious dessert is traditionally served during Ramadan and is usually garnished with ground nuts and pomegranate seeds.
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Turkish cuisine is known for its nutritious and delicious milk desserts and Güllaç is one of the most loved ones along with Sutlac (Turkish Rice Pudding), Kazandibi, and Muhallebi - Mahalabia Dessert.
This light dessert does not disturb the stomach after a long day of fasting and is easily digested. Therefore, most of the Gullac consumption takes place during the Holy month of Ramadan.
History of Güllaç
This traditional Turkish dessert dates back to the early years of the Ottoman Empire (late 13th century). In those days, people were mixing cornstarch and water to form a paste.
When the paste is turned into paper-thin sheets and meets with air, it dries quickly and became easy to stack and store. When soaked in sweetened milk, these sheets would soften and turn into this delightful dessert called "Güllaç".
Once adopted by the Sultan himself, it was refined by palace chefs and became the dessert we know today served with different flavorings such as nuts and fruits.
Why This Recipe Works?
- This simple milky dessert is extremely tasty and very easy to prepare just in 20 minutes.
- Gullac sheets are completely natural, they don’t have any additives which makes them a very light and healthy dessert.
- It is a crowd-pleaser, this simple recipe makes 15 portions of delicious Güllaç dessert!
Ingredients and Substitutes
- Gullac leaves - Güllaç leaves are starch wafers that are made of corn starch, flour, and water. You can buy them from most Turkish shops or online.
- Milk - I prefer full-fat milk for milky desserts but you can substitute it with semi-skimmed or skimmed milk.
- Sugar - I use caster sugar or granulated sugar. If 500 grams of sugar seems like a lot to you, adjust the amount to your taste.
- Garnishes - You can use any type of nuts to garnish your gullac. Rosewater is another popular flavoring for this dessert as well as pomegranate seeds. You can also use strawberries or cherries to garnish it or add some vanilla paste to milk for extra flavoring.
How to Make Gullac?
Although making Gullac dessert is very easy, you need to follow a few simple steps and tips:
Prepare the Milk
Place the milk and sugar in a medium-sized pan and bring it to a boil over medium heat.
Whisk occasionally, making sure the sugar dissolves, and then take the pan off the heat.
Let it cool down to room temperature before starting to layer the sheets.
Layer the Güllaç
Trim a Güllaç sheet to fit your serving dish size of 35cm x 25cm (14" x 10") and lay it on the bottom, shiny side up.
Pour a ladle of the milk mixture on top and wait until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Repeat the same with five sheets and then sprinkle on some nuts.
Put the other five sheets on top of the nuts, making sure you soak each of them with sweetened milk.
When you finish with the leaves, pour the rest of the milk on them.
Cover the dish and refrigerate it for a couple of hours before garnishing and serving.
Garnish and Serve
Remove the dish from the fridge and portion the Gullac. I usually have 15 portions out of this recipe but you can have smaller or bigger portions if you prefer.
Garnish your dessert just before serving as the white color of Gullac might change when you add the pomegranate seeds or pistachio nuts.
Top Tip From the Chef
Make sure to bring the milk to room temperature before adding it to the gullac leaves to avoid the dessert getting soggy!
Recipe FAQs
The Güllaç word is derived from the combination of ‘Güllü’ and ‘Aş’ words in Turkish. Güllü word means "with rose" and Aş word means "food" in English. The word "Güllü-Aş" eventually turn to "Güllaç" over the years.
Using rose water as a flavoring was very common for this dessert during the Ottomans but today it is more like a personal choice.
You can keep the leftovers for up to five days refrigerated in an airtight container. I wouldn't recommend freezing Güllaç!
Related Recipes
For more delicious Turkish Dessert Recipes why not try:
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.
I hope you enjoy the process of making this delicious Güllaç Dessert as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!
Güllaç
Equipment
- 1 Saucepan
Ingredients
- 250 g Güllaç leaves (around 10)
- 1 ½ l full fat milk
- 500 g sugar
- 150 g chopped walnuts, pistachio or hazelnuts
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
Instructions
Preparing the Milk
- Place the milk and sugar in a medium-sized pan and bring it to a boil over medium heat.
- Whisk occasionally, making sure the sugar dissolves and then take the pan off the heat.
- Let it cool down to room temperature before starting to layer the sheets.
Layering the Gullac
- Trim a Güllaç sheet to fit your serving dish size of 35cm x 25 cm (14" x 10") and lay it on the bottom, shiny side up.
- Pour a ladle of the milk mixture on top and wait until most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Repeat the same with five sheets and then sprinkle on some nuts.
- Put the other five sheets on top of the nuts, making sure you soak each of them with sweetened milk.
- When you finish with the leaves, pour the rest of the milk on them.
- Cover the dish and refrigerate it for a couple of hours before garnishing and serving.
Garnishing and Serving
- Remove the dish from the fridge and portion the Gullac. I usually have 15 portions out of this recipe but you can have smaller or bigger portions if you prefer.
- Garnish your dessert just before serving as the white colour of Gullac might change when added pomegranate seeds or pistachio nuts.
Notes
- Make sure to bring the milk to room temperature before adding it to the gullac leaves to avoid the dessert getting soggy!
- You can keep the leftovers for up to five days refrigerated in an airtight container.
- I wouldn't recommend freezing Güllaç!
Nutrition
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Naibe
Great recipe and very easy to follow. My guests enjoyed it very much and said it was refreshing.
Erica
Simple to make and awesome to eat! Amazingly Good!
Lilly
This looks incredible! So soft and decadent. Will make this as soon as I find the gullac leaves!