The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

As per the last few years, Cairo’s bakeries and confectionaries have gone all out this Ramadan in an effort to outdo each other in the creativity department when it comes to traditional Egyptian desserts and sweets – and La Poire is no different.

A giant in its field, quality has never been issue of La Poire and, this year, there’s no shortage of options, either. Visiting the one of the Maadi branches, we would challenge anyone to step into a La Poire during Ramadan and not be overcome by indecision – there’s just so much to take in.

At the time of our visit, the branch had already begun selling kahk – traditionally made by bakeries and households alike in Eid – but we were drawn almost immediately to the Nutella konafa, as well as its mango counterpart, and ready-packaged Oriental sweet boxes for just 40LE per box.

Sold only in whole, we tried the konafa with berries (150LE), which is essentially structured in two halves; the top half features berries over cream, while the lower half is where the konafa comes in, with layers of it and more cream continuing to the bottom of the bowl that it comes in. Tasting every bit as delicious as it looked, the real surprise was how fresh the cream was, as well as the pure taste of the berries. It all made for a surprisingly light and airy dessert, with the contrast in textures ensuring you go back for a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth bite.

Other traditional desserts with kooky, modern spins at La Poire include Red Velvet basbousa (160LE) – and its konafa version (150LE) – which has been the talk of the town – well, social media – as well as a particular creation that brings together basbousa, konafa, cake and pistachio. Not the faint of heart, the dessert sells for a whopping 190LE and is one of the more outrageous appropriations of classic Egyptian sweets to emerge this Ramadan. Other, simpler options include the slightly more established and aforementioned konafa with mango (150LE) and the and inevitably super-sweet and ever-so-slightly over-priced konafa with Nutella (175LE), as well as Aish Saraya cake with pistachios (150LE).

Many bemoan what was once called by our friends at Cairo Gossip “the perversion of desserts, ” but there’s an intangible thrill about consuming these quirky versions of Egyptian classics – a thrill you will readily find at La Poire this Ramadan.