Hazelnut Cezerye, Whole-Nut Turkish Carrot Confection (Double Findik)

Cezerye is the carrot sweet of Mersin, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast: grated carrots are slowly caramelised with sugar into a soft, deep reddish-brown paste, then bound with roasted nuts. This is the double-hazelnut version, where whole blanched hazelnuts are pressed densely all the way around each roll until the carrot core barely shows between them. Bite through and you get two textures at once: the firm snap of the nuts, then the chewy, gently sweet centre underneath.

If you have only met Turkish sweets through lokum (Turkish delight), cezerye is a different thing entirely. There is no starch-and-sugar gel here. The body of the confection is carrot, and the flavour leans warm and toasty rather than rose or lemon. The Turkish name comes from the Arabic word jazriyya, meaning "made with carrot," which is exactly what you are eating.

Hazelnuts are the most traditional nut for cezerye, and Turkey is the natural home for them: the country grows roughly 70 percent of the world's hazelnuts, most of it along the Black Sea coast around Giresun and Ordu. Using whole nuts rather than chopped pieces keeps each one crisp and gives the rolls their cobbled, all-over crust.

Serve it the way it is eaten across Turkey and the Levant, in small pieces alongside Turkish coffee or strong black tea, where the bitterness balances the sweetness. It sits naturally on a dessert or mezze table, travels well as a gift, and earns its place during Ramadan and Eid, though it is enjoyed year round, from Riyadh and Dubai to London, Berlin and New York.

Contains hazelnuts (tree nuts). Made with carrot paste, so it is naturally wheat- and gluten-free. Keep cool and dry, away from direct sun, and reseal after opening to protect the texture.

Available in 250g, 500g, 1kg and 3kg.