Confectionery making

Confectionery making began in Gabrovo in the second half of the nineteenth century, when Gavril and Yonko, two local men who had returned from Bucharest, introduced the craft to the town. Previously, ice cream and Turkish delight had been imported from Romania and Constantinople, while Gabrovo's homemakers prepared fruit sweets at home. Production was initially limited, since sweets were eaten mainly at weddings and other celebrations. Today, the town's confectioners' workshops make various sugar products, including sugar cockerels, sesame brittle, brown halva, Turkish delight, balsudzhuk and others. At Motkov's Coffeehouse, dating from 1850, visitors can try traditional Turkish coffee made in heated sand, a white sugar preserve and various small sweets. The confectioner's shop occupies the ground floor of the coffeehouse and was reconstructed in the museum in 1968.