MAIN INGREDIENTS
Kunāfah consists of two crunchy layers of shredded and buttered kataifi or knefe dough, filled with a luscious cheese cream that's often flavored with orange zest and cardamom, then drenched in a sugar syrup infused with lemon juice and orange blossom water.
Turkish künefe is traditionally made with Hatay, Urfa, or Antep cheese. It is usually topped with pistachios and is best served warm. Elegant and amazingly simple to make, this dessert is nothing short of what cheese-filled pastry dreams are made of.
MOST ICONIC Kunefe
View moreMAIN INGREDIENTS
Known as soufflé cheesecake in Japan and cotton cheesecake or Japanese cheesecake outside of Japan, this light and fluffy dessert is made by incorporating whisked egg whites into the cake mixture (eggs, milk, sugar, cream cheese), and the combination is then baked in a bain-marie.
The Japanese cheesecake is more fluffy and sponge-like than regular cheesecake, and it's sometimes eaten cold, but most people prefer to eat it straight out of the oven while it's still hot, so it almost melts in the mouth. It was created by a Japanese chef Tomotaro Kuzuno who went to Germany in the 1960s and found käsekuchen, a type of German cheesecake.
MOST ICONIC Japanese cheesecake
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Ma'moul bil jibn is a delicious treat made from fine dough filled with a mixture of akkawi cheese and grated mozzarella, giving it a rich flavor and a smooth texture. It is shaped into small discs and baked until golden brown, then topped with powdered sugar, and sometimes garnished with crushed pistachios for added flavor.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Chhena poda is a traditional cheese dessert originating from Odisha. It's usually made with a combination of chhena cheese, sugar, rice flour, cardamom, and optional ingredients such as raisins, almonds, and cashews. A baking pan is greased with ghee, lined with banana leaves, and the chhena poda mixture is then poured into the pan.
The dessert is baked until the sugar caramelizes and the top crust becomes dark golden. Once cooled, chhena poda is sliced and served as a dessert after a big meal or as a sweet treat in the afternoon. It's often made at home during festivals such as Durga Puja.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Roshmalai or ras malai is a popular Bengali and Indian dessert consisting of milk, sugar and cardamom-flavored paneer cheese known as chhana. Almonds, cashews, and saffron are often added to the dessert. Roshmalai is of Bengali origin, and is sometimes described as a rich cheesecake without a crust.
The name of the dessert is a combination of two Bengali words, rosh, meaning sap, and Hindustani word malai, meaning cream. It is typically served chilled and garnished with cardamom seeds or dried fruits. This delicious dessert is most popular during the festivals such as Holi and Diwali.
MOST ICONIC Roshmalai
View moreHöşmerim is a simple Turkish dessert made with roasted semolina, milk, water, sugar, and dil peyniri – an unsalted cheese similar to mozzarella, praised for its good melting properties, although any type of fresh unsalted cheese can be used.
The melted cheese is combined with other ingredients, and the combination is then cooked until it develops the desired consistency. Before serving, höşmerim is traditionally topped with almonds. The dessert is usually consumed after a big meal, and it is recommended to serve it with a glass of Turkish tea on the side.
These sweet cheese rolls are a typical dessert commonly associated with Levantine and Arab countries, though it is believed they originated in the city of Hama in Syria. The dessert is made with a combination of semolina, water, rose water, sugar, and cheese - traditionally Akkawi or Majdoola cheese, though modern variations often replace it with the widely available mozzarella.
All ingredients are combined and heated until they form a soft, pliable dough which is then rolled into thin sheets. The filling is made with ashta—thick clotted cream—which is piped before the sheets are rolled into thin logs.
The rolls are then sliced into small bite-size pieces and are typically served drizzled with syrup and garnished with rose petal jam and ground pistachios.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Kalakand is a traditional dessert that's also popular in Pakistan and Bangladesh. In its basic version, this rich cake is made with a reduced combination of sweetened condensed milk and fresh curd cheese such as paneer or chhena. The combination is stirred and cooked until thick and moist, and it's then often mixed with cardamom powder, saffron, rose water, sugar, and dried fruit, or topped with nuts such as cashews, almonds, or pistachios.
Kalakand is left to set in the fridge and it's then cut into slices before serving. This dessert is especially popular during festivals such as Diwali, Navaratri, or Holi.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 8 Asian Cheese Desserts” list until April 15, 2025, 2,768 ratings were recorded, of which 649 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.