The Warm Baklawa Sundae: Toronto's Next Viral Dessert Is on Bloor West

Toronto has a type. Every year or two a dessert takes over the city — the cube croissant, the Dubai chocolate bar, the pistachio everything. Half of them are more fun to film than to eat.

We built ours the other way around. The Warm Baklawa Sundae is on the menu at Levant, 899 Bloor St W, for a limited time only. It's $9.50. We think it's the next one.

What's actually in it

Six things, and every one of them is doing a job.

Warm baklawa, broken over the top — still hot, still crisp at the edges, the syrup just starting to loosen.

Vanilla ice cream underneath it, which is the whole trick. Hot pastry, cold cream.

Pistachio cream, thick and nutty, running through the middle.

Labneh whipped cream — this is the part people don't expect. Strained yogurt whipped light, tangy enough to keep the sweetness from flattening out.

Crushed pistachio over the top for the crunch, and rose petals, because it should look like what it tastes like.

Why warm changes everything

Most baklava you eat in this city is room temperature. It's fine. It's also missing something.

Heat the baklawa and the syrup thins, the phyllo goes shattery instead of chewy, and the butter comes forward. Then you put cold vanilla ice cream directly underneath it, and the two start fighting — one melting into the other, the crisp layers softening exactly where they meet the cream while the top stays crackly.

That contrast is the entire dessert. It's also why it doesn't travel well. This one is meant to be eaten in the room, right when it lands.

The labneh whipped cream is the reason it works

Baklava is sweet. Pistachio cream is sweet. Vanilla ice cream is sweet. Stack all three and you get something that's lovely for four bites and exhausting by the eighth.

Labneh fixes it. It's strained yogurt — the same thing we use across the menu — whipped into a cream that stays tangy. It cuts straight through the syrup and resets your palate between spoonfuls, so the last bite lands like the first.

It's a Levantine ingredient doing a job that Chantilly cream can't. That's more or less the whole idea behind this place.

What to eat it after

The sundae is big enough to share and rich enough that you'll want to. After a couple of slices — 2 for $7.50, or $3 a slice with a student ID — it's a full meal for well under twenty dollars. After anything spicy, it's the exit: if you've been dipping in Shatta Chili, the cold cream is where you land. And with an espresso, bitter coffee against warm syrup is an old pairing for a reason.

Get it before it's gone

This is a limited-time dessert. It's not on the permanent menu, and when the run ends, it ends.

$9.50. 899 Bloor St W, at Bloor and Ossington. Tuesday through Sunday. Come in, order it warm, and tell us if we're right about it.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Warm Baklawa Sundae? $9.50.

Is it available all year? No — it's a limited-time item at Levant on Bloor St W. Call 416-901-4488 to check it's still on.

What is baklawa? Baklawa (also spelled baklava) is a layered phyllo pastry with nuts and syrup, found across the Levant, Turkey and the Balkans. Ours is served warm and broken over ice cream rather than eaten as a standalone piece.

Is the sundae vegetarian? Yes. It contains dairy, nuts (pistachio) and gluten.

Where can I get it in Toronto? Levant (not) Pizza, 899 Bloor St W, at Bloor and Ossington — steps from Ossington station on the Bloor line.