# Maltese Desserts and Sweets: Pastries, Biscuits and Celebration Cakes Source: https://www.malteserecipes.com/collections/maltese-desserts-and-sweets/ Choose a Maltese sweet by filling, technique, and occasion: almond biscuits, date pastries, ricotta kannoli, bread pudding, and seasonal celebration cakes. Maltese sweets range from a biscuit beside coffee to a pastry you fill at the last minute or a cake made for a particular celebration. This guide helps you choose by the kind of cooking involved, not just by how a finished sweet looks. For a straightforward first bake, compare [almond macaroons](/recipes/biskuttini-tal-lewz/) with [marble cake](/recipes/torta-tal-marmurat/). If you want a filled pastry, decide between dates, treacle, and ricotta before choosing a dough. For a project to decorate, start with Figolli; for an assembled centrepiece, read the full Prinjolata method before shopping. ## Match the sweet to the occasion Some sweets have a specific place in the calendar. [Visit Gozo's sweets guide](https://visitgozo.com/2024/10/22/delectable-treats-more-gozos-sweets-indulgences/) distinguishes Carnival's Prinjolata, Lenten Kwareżimal, and Easter Figolli. They are not interchangeable names for a generic festive dessert. Use our [Easter food guide](/collections/maltese-easter-food/) for spring baking, or the [Christmas food guide](/collections/maltese-christmas-food/) for a winter gathering. You can still bake a favourite outside its associated season; the cultural notes in each recipe explain the occasion without imposing a menu on your household. ## Choose a manageable mix For a small sweets table, choose contrasting textures: one biscuit, one filled pastry, and coffee may be enough. Three recipes that all need frying or last-minute filling compete for attention. Read the active work, cooling, and chilling requirements as well as the stated cooking time. Check ingredients for your guests rather than relying on a dish name. Several of these sweets contain almonds, eggs, dairy, or wheat; some offer alcohol or honey. 'Honey rings' on this site have a treacle filling, while the savoury ricotta pie belongs in [baking and pastry](/collections/maltese-baking-and-pastry/), not on this dessert list. For unfamiliar labels, consult the [ingredient guide](/maltese-ingredients-abroad/). ## Biscuits and rings for coffee Almond macaroons have a chewy centre; sesame rings offer a simpler biscuit with aniseed. Kwareżimal combines almonds with citrus and spice. Qagħaq tal-Għasel is a filled pastry rather than a plain biscuit: allow time to cook and cool its treacle filling before shaping the rings. - [Biskuttini tal-Lewż (Maltese Almond Macaroons)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/biskuttini-tal-lewz/): Traditional Maltese almond macaroons with a crisp outside and chewy centre. Simple, fragrant, and often served for celebrations. - [Qagħaq tal-Ġulġlien (Maltese Sesame Rings)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/qaghaq-tal-gulglien/): Traditional Maltese sesame rings with a crisp crust, tender crumb, and fragrant aniseed. A simple bakery classic for tea or snacking. - [Kwareżimal (Maltese Lenten Biscuits)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/kwarezimal/): Traditional Maltese Lenten biscuits made without eggs, butter, or dairy. Dense, aromatic, and rich with almonds, citrus, and warm spices. - [Qagħaq tal-Għasel (Maltese Honey Rings)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/qaghaq-tal-ghasel/): Traditional Maltese honey rings filled with treacle, citrus, spices, and semolina. A fragrant festive sweet with a rich, sticky centre. ## Filled pastries to serve fresh Imqaret encloses a date filling in fried pastry. Kannoli and Żeppoli use sweet ricotta but have different shells and shapes. These are good choices when you can finish close to serving; filling a crisp shell too early can soften it. Check the recipe before deciding what to prepare ahead. - [Imqaret (Maltese Date Pastries)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/imqaret/): Traditional Maltese fried date pastries scented with citrus, aniseed, and warm spice. Crisp outside, sticky and aromatic inside. - [Kannoli Maltin (Maltese Cannoli)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/kannoli-maltin/): Crisp pastry tubes filled with sweet ricotta, citrus zest, chocolate, and candied peel. A Maltese bakery favourite with Sicilian roots. - [Żeppoli ta' San Ġużepp (Maltese St Joseph's Pastries)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/zeppoli-ta-san-guzepp/): Traditional Maltese St Joseph's pastries filled with sweet ricotta and finished with honey, nuts, or icing sugar. ## Slices and centrepieces Bread pudding makes use of stale bread, while marble cake starts with a cake batter. The Christmas log is assembled without baking. Prinjolata is a larger project involving several components, so it suits a day when preparation and chilling can be spread out. - [Pudina tal-Ħobż (Maltese Bread Pudding)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/pudina-tal-hobz/): A traditional Maltese bread pudding made with stale bread, cocoa, citrus, spices, dried fruit, and nuts. Frugal, rich, and deeply nostalgic. - [Torta tal-Marmurat (Maltese Marble Cake)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/torta-tal-marmurat/): A homely Maltese marble cake with vanilla and chocolate swirls. Soft, simple, and perfect with tea or coffee. - [Tronchetto tal-Milied (Maltese Christmas Log)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/tronchetto-tal-milied/): A no-bake Maltese Christmas log made with crushed biscuits, nuts, chocolate, condensed milk, and candied fruit. - [Prinjolata (Maltese Carnival Cake)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/prinjolata/): A festive dome-shaped Maltese dessert for Carnival, layered with sponge, pastry, cream, and nuts, covered in meringue and decorated with pine nuts and cherries. ## Almond pastries to decorate Figolli pairs two layers of pastry with almond filling and a decorated top. The shaping and icing are part of the work: a small number of simple shapes is a manageable first batch. Bake and cool fully before decorating, following the recipe's storage guidance. - [Figolli (Maltese Easter Almond Pastries)](https://www.malteserecipes.com/recipes/figolli/): Malta's iconic Easter sweet - two layers of pastry filled with almond paste, baked and decorated with colourful icing and a chocolate egg on top.