A traditional Greek dessert from the Peloponese, diples are light and airy fried dough dipped in honey.
Summer brings wedding season, and with it the rituals and foods that make those celebrations memorable. In our family—rooted in Messinia in the Peloponnese—one beloved tradition is serving diples at weddings. These delicate fried pastries, dipped in honey and sprinkled with nuts or sesame seeds, symbolize a wish that the couple’s joys and blessings be doubled.
We remember a cousin’s wedding in Kalamata in the summer of 2008. The ceremony took place at Agios Ioannis, the town’s oldest church, where our uncle officiated alongside neighboring priests. The reception was held on a mountaintop, with cool air, a canopy of stars overhead and the city lights glittering below. The atmosphere felt almost otherworldly. Preparing for the wedding began days before: family and friends gathered in our aunt’s kitchen to make over a thousand diples.
The process took three days. On the first day the dough was mixed and the diples were fried and shaped. The second day was for dipping them in warm honey and sprinkling with chopped nuts; the sweet scent even attracted bees into the house as the women worked. On the third day the finished diples were placed on platters and wrapped for delivery to the reception hall, where each table received its own tray. The women who helped sang, reminisced and quietly took pride in preserving a family tradition.
Helpful hints
At its core, diples are simple: thin sheets of dough fried until light and golden, then coated in honey and nuts. In practice, however, the technique takes practice. We rate this recipe as Level of Difficulty: Hard, mainly because shaping the fried dough requires speed and coordination. The dough itself is easy to prepare, and using a pasta machine makes rolling thin, even sheets far easier. If you don’t have one, a rolling pin will work—just take extra care to roll the dough as thin as possible and keep pieces small and manageable.
Making diples is best done with family or friends. Multiple hands speed the process and make it easier to find the person with a natural knack for rolling and shaping. If you’re working solo, roll and fry smaller batches so the dough remains easy to handle. Expect a few imperfect pieces at first—they still taste great.
A pasta machine is optional but highly recommended: it yields uniformly thin sheets that are key to light, crisp diples. The photos show how thin the dough should be—almost translucent.
The recipe below yields about 70–75 diples, but the syrup quantities provided will coat approximately 20–25 pieces. This is intentional: many families keep un-honeyed diples in the refrigerator in an airtight container and coat them as needed. Uncoated diples can stay fresh for weeks.
Use the best quality honey you can find—the flavor of the honey will strongly influence the final taste. While some people sweeten the syrup with sugar, our family prefers pure honey.
Diples vary across Greece, with regional shapes and techniques. The rolled shape we describe is traditional in much of the Peloponnese and worth mastering for its delicate texture and classic appearance. If you experiment with other shapes, enjoy the process—and be sure to taste any imperfect pieces yourself.
Looking for more traditional Greek desserts? How about these:
Baklava
Galaktoboureko
Portokalopita
We love hearing from you! If you have made our recipes or have a question, please leave a comment and star rating below.
Diples
Equipment
-
pasta machine optional, but highly recommended
-
deep frying pan
Ingredients
- 6 cups sifted, all-purpose flour
- 10 large eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) ouzo
- vegetable oil for frying
For the syrup:
- 1 cup (250 mL) honey
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) water
- 1/2 cup (80 grams) crushed almonds
- 1/2 cup (70 grams) crushed walnuts
Instructions
-
In a large bowl combine 5 cups of the sifted flour with the beaten eggs and the ouzo. Knead well by hand, then slowly add the remaining 1 cup of sifted flour. The dough should be soft but not sticky and easy to handle. Cover loosely with a clean cloth and let rest for 15 minutes.
-
Using a pasta machine on the flat setting, pass portions of dough through the rollers, gradually closing them with each pass until the dough is as thin as possible. Lightly dust with flour halfway through. The dough should be thin enough to see through.
-
Lay the sheet of dough on a lightly floured cloth and cut rectangular pieces about 6 x 8 inches (adjust to the width of your machine). Rectangles make it easier to fold the longer edges over each other to form the traditional rolled shape.
-
Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan to medium. Fry one piece of dough at a time. It cooks quickly, so be prepared to shape it as it fries.
-
Place a flat piece of dough into the hot oil. It will begin to puff and color immediately—spread it out and flip it, then use two forks to roll and fold the dough into shape while it fries. Work quickly: frying takes about 25–30 seconds. Diples should be a very light golden color with no browning.
-
As they finish, place the diples almost upright in a paper towel-lined colander to drain. Continue until all pieces are fried.
-
The syrup quantities will coat about 20–25 diples. If you wish to coat more, prepare additional batches of syrup as needed.
-
In a saucepan large enough for one diple at a time, combine the honey and water. Heat over medium until it foams slightly, then reduce heat and skim off the foam.
-
Hold one diple at a time over the warm honey and spoon syrup over it, coating both inside and outside. While still warm, sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of crushed almonds and walnuts (or to taste). Repeat until the honey is used.
-
Store diples at room temperature for a few days, covered loosely with plastic wrap or parchment. Do not cover while still warm or they will become soggy.
-
Alternatively, keep un-honeyed diples refrigerated in an airtight container for several weeks.
-
Enjoy!