If you still haven't tried crinkle cake, it's time. Not only because of its viral success on TikTok, but because it's very easy to make and the result always confuses guests. A pie made with crumpled, „crinkled" sheets of phyllo dough that finishes with a crisp top layer and a creamy inside.

Although TikTok gave it a second name, the recipe is not modern. The origins are Middle Eastern, specifically an Iraqi dessert called Muakacha - „crumpled" or „gathered" in Arabic. It is a simpler version of the well-known baklava, which also uses phyllo dough, butter, chopped nuts and a syrup with cinnamon, cardamom and rose or orange water.

What changes here? Once the phyllo is „crinkled" and baked, it gets poured over with a mixture of milk, egg and sugar with spices (usually cinnamon, cumin, cardamom) and goes back in the oven. At the end it is covered with syrup and topped with nuts or fresh fruit. The final effect: three textures on one plate - crisp, juicy, creamy.

The ingredients are simple: phyllo sheets, melted butter, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, nuts of your choice and toppings (fresh fruit is loveliest in summer). The steps are short. Phase one - heat the oven to 180 degrees. Lay the phyllo on a work surface, „crinkle" it with your hands into a big crumpled accordion shape, place it in a baking dish and brush with melted butter. Bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Phase two - the milk, egg, sugar and spice mixture is poured on top. Return to the oven at 160 degrees, until the mixture „sets." Take out, pour over with warm syrup - that's it. Serve with nuts and maybe a little fruit for freshness. Balkan grandmothers make this with apples and grapes as a variation. Total time from start to table - under an hour. Result - a dessert your friends will ask for the recipe of for the next three weeks.