Cypriot desserts, from Geroskipou loukoumi to Agros roses

Cypriot sweets interest me because several carry a village name and an EU seal. Here I go through the protected ones, what their official paperwork says about them and where to watch more homely ones being made. For savoury cooking, head to Cypriot food.

Geroskipou loukoumi

It has been a protected geographical indication since Regulation (EC) 1485/2007. According to the summary of its application, it’s a sugar-based confection with a gel-like texture, cut into cubes of roughly 20 by 20 by 25 millimetres, made in several flavours and dusted with icing sugar or desiccated coconut. It may contain nuts, honey or dark chocolate. What sets it apart is that it’s firmer, springier and less sweet than similar sweets, with no glucose or gelatine.

The story is a family one. In 1895 Sophocles Athanasiou began making it in Geroskipou, and his descendants still make it the same way in the same place. The document notes that Nikos Kazantzakis mentions it in a 1926 travel book and that the producer received a certificate at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1925. The almonds and honey in it come from Paphos district. I’d have it with Cypriot coffee ordered sketo, without sugar, to balance the sweetness. The application also says the business has carried out every stage of production within Geroskipou since its founding, and that any producer in the area may make it if they follow the specification.

Geroskipou sugared almonds

The same family makes koufeta amygdalou, roasted sugared almonds, with a PGI since 2012. They’re white, almond-shaped and wrapped in a rough sugar shell 2 to 4 millimetres thick that melts easily in the mouth. The local books cited in the application place them at village festivals from the 1930s.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Paphos before prices climb.

The roses of Agros

In Agros, in the Troodos, the damask rose yields two protected products. The rose spoon sweet, a PGI since 2016, is a thick mixture of stemless petals, sugar and water, deep purple in the jar and strongly scented, eaten by the spoonful as a dessert. According to the application, local women once made it at home as a remedy. Since 2024 Agros rosewater has had a PGI too.

Soutzoukos and spoon sweets

Larnaca’s tourism board suggests two places to see them made. In Kato Drys, Ktima Christoudia winery shows how it makes soutzoukos, the grape must sweet, alongside its Cypriot wine. In Agioi Vavatsinias, Ermi Traditional Sweets makes more than 40 spoon sweets, jams, fig pies and soutzoukos the traditional way, and welcomes visitors.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Paphos and choose by the reviews.

How I’d buy them

Loukoumi and sugared almonds in Geroskipou itself or with the PGI label, and the rose sweet in Agros. I also list them among my souvenirs from Cyprus, next to halloumi cheese.

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Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Paphos before prices climb.