Egypt · 4 min read
Eid Sweets in Egypt: Kahk, Ghorayeba, Biscuits and Bettefour
For Eid al-Fitr, Egyptians serve kahk, ghorayeba, basata biscuits and bettefour. A guide to what goes on the Eid tray and how to plan one.
The traditional Egyptian Eid al-Fitr tray holds four things: kahk (filled butter cookies dusted with sugar), ghorayeba (melt-in-the-mouth shortbread), basata (simple biscuits) and bettefour (petit fours). Families bake or buy them in the last days of Ramadan and offer them to every visitor during the three days of Eid.
Kahk
Round, patterned and covered in powdered sugar, kahk are filled with agameya, nuts or dates, or left plain. The tradition is often traced back to ancient Egypt and is well documented from the Fatimid era.
Ghorayeba and basata
Ghorayeba are pale, fragile cookies of butter, powdered sugar and flour. Basata, or Eid biscuits, are crisp, lightly sweet and often flavoured with vanilla, and children dip them in tea or milk.
Bettefour
Egypt's petit fours: piped butter biscuits, half-dipped in chocolate, filled with jam, or rolled in coconut and nuts. They make the tray colourful.
Eid al-Adha
Eid al-Adha is more centred on meat and family meals, but sweets are still served to guests, and many families repeat the same tray.
Every door you knock on opens to the same tray.
Planning your tray
Order early; the week before Eid is the busiest of the bakery year. Buy a mix by weight, keep it in airtight tins, and dust kahk with fresh sugar just before guests arrive.
Plan your Eid sweets with Délices
When your event can only have Délices, call us to plan your Eid boxes and trays: +20 3 486 1432. We're at 46 Saad Zaghloul Street, Raml Station, open daily 8 AM – 1 AM.
