nutty · dried-fruit · floral
30–40%
fixed oil content
of kernel mass
1–1.5%
essential oil
volatile aroma fraction
0.05–0.1%
coumarin glycosides
mostly bound, released on crush
6–8 mm
kernel diameter
inside the cherry stone
Mahleb or mahlepi is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of a species of cherry, Prunus mahaleb. The cherry stones are cracked to extract the seed kernel, which is about 5 mm in diameter, and soft and chewy on extraction. The seed kernel is ground to a powder before use. Its flavour is similar to a combination of bitter almond and cherry, and also similar to marzipan.
Mahleb is the pale kernel hidden inside the pit of the St Lucie cherry, Prunus mahaleb, a small wild cherry tree that lines the limestone slopes of Anatolia, Syria, Iran and the southern Balkans. The fruit itself is bitter and barely edible; value lies in the almond-shaped seed, ground fresh into a warm powder that smells of marzipan, sour cherry, rose petal and a trace of vanilla. It is a defining spice of Eastern Mediterranean ritual baking: Greek tsoureki at Easter, Egyptian and Levantine kahk cookies at Eid, Armenian cheoreg, Turkish çörek. Pre-ground mahleb loses its soul within weeks; whole kernels, kept cool, hold their almond-cherry duality for a year.
Tasting notes
nutty · dried-fruit · floral
Top: bitter almond, fresh marzipan, sour cherry. Mid: rose petal, a quiet vanilla hum. Base: soft stone-fruit skin, faint tobacco. More floral than amaretto, more restrained than tonka.
Flavor compass
Middle East, Türkiye.
Kernels from the Saint Lucie cherry, cracked and dried in the Lebanese highlands around Zahlé and the Chouf. Soft bitter-almond with sour-cherry and marzipan tones. Core of maamoul, kahk, Greek tsoureki and Cypriot flaouna.
Anatolian grade grown in Gümüşhane, Tokat and Burdur. Bolder, more astringent, slightly more sour-cherry than the Lebanese. The mahlep of Turkish paskalya çöreği, poğaça and Ramadan simit.
Traditional grade from the hills around Aleppo and Idlib. Smaller, paler kernel, cleaner marzipan, less tannic. The mahleb of Aleppine nammoura, barazek and Damascene ma'amoul madd.
The St. Lucie cherry tree blooms white-pink across Anatolian hills — bees work the highland groves by the hundreds.
Small black cherries ripen — bitter, inedible flesh clings to a hard stone that holds the aromatic kernel.
Cherries hand-stripped or lightly shaken onto tarps. Flesh separated in water baths — it's discarded, the stone is the prize.
Stones sun-dried on concrete terraces until they rattle — the kernel shrinks inside, freeing it from the shell.
Stones fed into roller crackers. Kernels winnowed from shell fragments — pale tan, 6–8 mm, the culinary product.
Crush just before baking — once ground, mahleb oxidises in weeks and the coumarin-almond top notes vanish into hay.
The molecules that make it taste like Kampot — and not like anything else.
Crushed Prunus mahaleb kernels: fixed oil dominates mass, but the aromatic signature is the release of coumarin, herniarin, and benzaldehyde on grinding.
35%
Fixed oil
kernel mass, oleic-rich
1.2%
Essential oil
volatile aroma fraction
0.07%
Coumarin
released on crushing
60+
Volatile compounds
in fresh crush
Bitter-almond top note — released from amygdalin on crushing.
Sweet hay, tonka, vanilla-adjacent — the mahleb signature.
Creamier coumarin cousin, adds depth.
Trace — dissipates fully in baking, harmless at culinary dose.
Nutty richness, mouthfeel carrier for the aromatics.
Adds almond-oil roundness.
| Pepper | Coumarin | Essential oil |
|---|---|---|
★ Turkish (Konya) Anatolia · benchmark commercial grade | 0.07% | 1.2% |
Syrian Aleppo region · traditional ma'amoul source | 0.09% | 1.4% |
Iranian Zagros · used in Persian nan-e berenji | 0.06% | 1.1% |
Zahlé, Beqaa Valley · est. 1962
“A Zahlé spice house founded in 1962, today the reference Lebanese grinder of mahleb (Prunus mahaleb cherry kernels) for the Middle-Eastern pastry trade.”
MethodsCherries cracked July–August, kernels separated, sun-dry 10–14 days on hessian, cold storage in hermetic glass, stone-ground to order 72 h before shipment, vacuum-packed under nitrogen for export. Never pre-ground more than two weeks in advance.
How the world cooks with it.
2 signature dishes
Mahleb defines Greek Easter baking — tsoureki wouldn't smell of Easter without it and mastic working together.
Braided Easter bread with mahleb, mastic, and orange zest — red egg baked on top.
New Year cake with a coin hidden inside — mahleb perfumes the crumb.
What it's called, from Phnom Penh to Palermo.
محلب
mahlab
Махалебка
mahalebka
馬哈利櫻桃
mǎhālì yīngtáo
Mahaleb
Μαχλέπι
mahlepi
Mahleb
Mahaleb
Mahaleb
מחלב
mahlav
महलेब
mahaleb
Մահալեպ
mahalep
Mahaleb
マハレブ
maharebu
마흘렙
maheulleb
محلب
mahlab
Mahaleb
Махлеб
makhleb
Mahaleb
Махалеб
mahaleb
Mahlep
محلب
mahlab
Sweet
Imagine the meat of a cherry stone cracked open: bitter-almond lead, followed by sweet hay and tonka bean, with a distant rose-vanilla whisper. The benzaldehyde gives the marzipan top note; the coumarin glycosides give the warm hay-sweetness; the fixed oil carries everything into a buttery pastry matrix. Unlike cinnamon or cardamom, mahleb isn't hot — it's floral, creamy, and quietly addictive.