The Peloponnesian Greek dessert made from folded fried dough dipped in syrup is diples.
Diples are made from thin dough rolled into long strips, fried in hot oil, and folded as they cook. The crisp pastry is then dipped in sugar or honey syrup, often with crushed walnuts and cinnamon added on top. Common shapes include bow ties, spirals, and rolled tubes.
The name means “folds,” fitting the dessert’s characteristic preparation. Diples are strongly associated with the Peloponnese and are especially common at Greek weddings and New Year celebrations. They are sometimes also called thiples.
Diples are easy to confuse with loukoumades, which are small fried dough balls, or kataifi, which consists of shredded pastry threads. Unlike galaktoboureko, diples do not contain a baked custard filling.