Behind the counter of a century-old pâtisserie in the center of Athens, the shop assistant performs the classic ribbon trick with her scissors, curling it just so. My order is meant as a gift, so this extra flourish feels essential. Like so many customers before me, I’ve asked for the timeless treats with the curious names: the indulgent chocolate pontikaki – little, “mouse-shaped” pastries with tiny tails and ears – and ergolavoi, almond-based cookies filled with jam or cream, whose name (“contractor”) has nothing whatsoever to do with construction.

There are certain desserts that we loved as children and continue to cherish as adults, confections that have become classic and remain tied to an older urban culture of hospitality, governed by a set of unspoken rules. Not so long ago, showing up to a visit empty-handed was out of the question; bringing a box of almond pastries was practically mandatory. And no name-day celebration was complete without the host offering ergolavoi, miniature chocolate cakes or chocolates truffles.

Even if these social rules have softened over time, the appetite of Athenians for the nostalgic desserts of their past remains as strong as ever.

It was around the 1950s that what we might now call the “Athenian pâtisserie tradition” began to take shape. Chocolate, whipped cream, candied cherries and other luxuries – until then rare or entirely unfamiliar – entered the picture. Until that point, Greece’s frugal, home-based cooking sweetened life with ingredients such as grape must, honey, seasonal fruit and nuts. Home cooks devised ways to preserve fruit by simmering it in sugar syrup, creating the famous glyka tou koutaliou (fruit preserves traditionally served by the spoon), while syrup-soaked, tray-baked pastries made with filo pastry and nuts became the country’s official celebratory staples for special occasions and major holidays.

As new habits took root in Athens in the 1950s and 1960s, the city’s dessert landscape changed as well. New ingredients became widely available to pastry chefs; café-patisseries multiplied and evolved into vibrant social hubs; and a growing spirit of curiosity and cosmopolitanism led to a wave of new creations. Some were entirely local inventions – like pasta serrano, made in honor of Rosita Serrano, the Chilean singer who once lived in Athens – while others were foreign desserts reimagined through a Greek lens that soon became national favorites.