Term kadayif (Turkish: kadayıf) is used to describe a variety of pastry desserts in the Turkish cuisine, including the actual confections and unfinished intermediate products like dough.^[1] Arabic products made of similar dough are called knafeh.^[2] While the word kadayif comes from Arabic qatayef linguistically, there is little overlap between the actual Arabic qatayef and Turkish kadayif desserts.^[2] Kadayif as a generic name for a group of pastry desserts can be found in the cookbook Melceü't-Tabbâhîn (1844).^[3]

• Unfinished products include:
  • Kadayif flour [tr], a special flour made from the bisquit class wheat;^[4]
  • Wire kadayif, also known as tel kadayif^[5] and string kadayif,^[2] is a vermicelli-like,^[2] semi-processed product made by mixing wheat flour and water, cooked and optionally fried;^[4][6]
  • Tray kadaif (TS 10344), per Turkish standard 10344/T2,^[7] is a semi-processed (baked) water and flour mix product.^{[8][verification needed]} Tray kadaif can also refer to a finished product (see below);
  • Başar & Boz^[6] mention lean kadayif and yufka kadayif. "Yufka" means "thin" and, at the same time, can be used to refer to filo dough.
• Kadaif confections include:
  • Tray kadayif (dessert), a dessert produced using tel kadayif and walnut. Variety of oils, hazelnut, sugar syrups can be added;^[6][9]
  • Yassı kadayıf [tr], a pancake resembling Arabic qatayef dumpling^[2] Also called flat kadayif, Arab kadayif;^[10]
  • Turkish künefe is filled with cheese;^[11]
  • Ekmek kadayifi or bread kadayif is made by pouring syrup on the bread. If leftover dry bread is used, it is called fodula kadayif^[3]
  • Erzurum kadayıf dolması [tr], also known as stuffed kadayif - walnuts wrapped in tel kadaif and deep-fried;^[11]
  • Burma kadayıf [tr] is made from tel kadayif in Diyarbakır;^[11]
  • Kadayıflı muhallebi [tr], a milk dessert;
  • Fındık ezmeli kadayıf tatlısı [tr], a dessert with hazelnut paste;
  • Kesme kadayıf [tr], a dessert using yufka;
  • Pekmezli kadayıf [tr], made from tel kadayif with added molasses;
  • Sütlü kadayıf [tr], a milk dessert;
  • other desserts mentioned in the literature: white kadayif, creamy kadayif, palace wire kadayif.^[12] Bezirgan^[5] declares the stone kadayif (Taş kadayıf [tr]) to be the same as flat kadayif and bread kadayif.

• Cataif, a Romanian dessert with crispy noodles on top

• Walczak-Mikołajczakowa, Mariola (2023-04-23). "Turkish Borrowings in Bulgarian Lexis Related to Cuisine and Cooking" (PDF). Przegląd Humanistyczny (66/4): 93–101. doi:10.31338/2657-599X.ph.2022-4.7.
• Bezirgan, Muammer (2024-06-06), Turkish Desserts and the Place of Desserts in Turkish Cuisine (PDF), doi:10.5281/ZENODO.11509656, ISBN 978-2-38236-680-6
• Fidan, Zeliha; Kübra, Aktaş (2024). "Improvement of bread kadayıf formulation with wheat germ addition and different fermentation methods".
• Başar, Burak; Boz, Hüseyin (2023-05-04). "Effect of different oils and sugar syrups on the properties of tray kadayif (traditional Turkish dessert)". Journal of Ethnic Foods. 10 (1). doi:10.1186/s42779-023-00178-3. ISSN 2352-6181.
• Savlak, Nazlı Yeyinli; Köse, Ergun (2013). "Bazı Özel Amaçlı Unların Kalite Özellikleri" [Quality Characteristics of Some Special Purpose Flours]. Akademik Gıda (in Turkish). 11 (2): 125–130.
• Civelek, P.; Kotancılar, H.G.; Türkoğlu, K. (2024). "Investigation of The Effect of Using Whole Wheat Flour and Different Additives in Bread Kadayif on Acrylamide and Hydroxymethyl Furfural (HMF)". Food Science and Engineering Research. 3 (1): 68–78.
• Krondl, M. (2011). Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-56976-954-6. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
• Seyyedcheraghi, K; Kotancilar, H G; Karaoglu, M M (2019). "Determination of acrylamide and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) values as affected by frying duration and temperature levels during the preparation of tray kadayif dessert". Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 17 (2): 4007–4017. doi:10.15666/aeer/1702_40074017.
• Başar, Burak (2017). Farkli yağ ve şeker şurubunun tepsi kadayifin duyusal ve dokusal özelliklerine etkisi [Effect Of Different Fat and Sugar Syrups on the Sensory and Textural Properties of Tray Kadayif] (Master thesis) (in Turkish). Erzurum: Ataturk University.