Receta Turkish Delight
I was honoured to host the Daring Cooks challenge for May and I chose Turkish Delight!
One of the things I love about making Turkish Delight is that it makes a wonderful gift that can be personalised especially for the recipient. Most people think of the traditional, pink, rose-scented sweet when they think of Turkish Delight, but I’m here to tell you, the sky is the limit! So in addition to traditional rose-scented Turkish Delight, I’m also going to introduce you to two of my own concoctions, Vanilla Cranberry Almond Delight and Chocolate Delight.
This recipe was adapted from two sites, here and here.
I reduced the original recipes to make smaller batches – go ahead and double it for larger batches. The serving size for these recipes says “36 or more pieces” because it depends on the setting container and how big you cut them. Anywhere up to an inch cube is a good start, but it is your choice. Start by considering a pan of approximately 15 x 15cm (6 x 6”) for 36 x 1” (2½ cm) cubes, and go from there. I used a 14cm x 21cm (5-1/2 x 8-1/4”) plastic container for this batch (I cut 60 pieces), so it’s quite flexible. You can even pour it onto a silicon mat, spread it out to the desired thickness and cut it into shapes with small cookie cutters.
Like most candy making, Turkish Delight is not difficult and you don’t need super fast reflexes, but timing is important so be sure to read through the recipe to familiarise yourself with all the stages before you get started. I would strongly recommend using a candy thermometer for making Turkish Delight, but if you don’t have one, you can test it by using a teaspoon to drop a little syrup in to a glass of cold water and it should form hard threads.
Preparation time: About an hour active time, and 6 – 8 hours or overnight to set. The longer you allow it to set, the longer it will keep without sweating. When covering, it should be very loose, just to keep dust etc out.
Traditional rose-scented Turkish Delight
Ingredients
400G (2 cups) granulated (white) sugar
1 tsp lemon juice 540 ml (2 1/4 cups) cold water, divided
80g (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar approximately 2 teaspoons rosewater
optional – a few drops pink gel or pinch pink powder food colouring
powdered (confectioner’s) sugar for dusting and packing
Directions
Place the granulated sugar, lemon juice and 180ml (3/4 cup) of the water in a medium heavy-based saucepan over medium-low heat (there’s no need to stir). Heat until the sugar dissolves, then increase the heat to medium, bring the mixture to a boil and insert a candy thermometer.
Allow the sugar mixture to continue boiling over low heat, without stirring, until it reaches 127°C (260°F) – hard ball stage – on the candy thermometer. This will take 10 – 15 minutes, depending on how high you have the heat.
Meanwhile, place the remaining 360ml (1-1/2 cups) of water in a medium heavy-based saucepan. Add the cornstarch and cream of tartar and whisk until the cornstarch dissolves completely.
When the sugar syrup is around 118°C (245°F), place the saucepan with the cornstarch mixture over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. The mixture will become thick and pasty.
Once the sugar syrup is at 127°C (260°F), remove it from the heat. Very slowly and carefully pour it into the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly until it is fully combined.
Reduce the heat to minimum and let it cook gently, whisking it every 5 minutes or so, for about 40 minutes, until the mixture has turned a light golden-yellow colour and is very thick and gluey. Be careful not to let it scorch – use a heat dispersal mat, if necessary.
Meanwhile, prepare a setting container (see notes) by lining with plastic wrap with plenty of overhang, and lightly coat with vegetable oil or non-stick spray.
Remove mixture from the heat and whisk in the food colouring (if using) and the rosewater. Pour into the setting container and spread with a silicon spatula and allow it to cool. Once completely cooled, loosely fold the plastic overhang over the top and let it set at room temperature for 6 – 8 hours or overnight.
If you are coating it in chocolate, jump to the recipe below before proceeding. Otherwise, continue…
Turn out of pan onto a board dusted with powdered sugar, remove the plastic wrap and dust the top with powdered sugar, then cut into pieces with a large, lightly oiled sharp knife. Dust the pieces with powdered sugar and pack in an airtight container in more powdered sugar.
Ingredients
- 400G (2 cups) granulated (white) sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice 540 ml (2 1/4 cups) cold water, divided
- 80g (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 75g (2/3 cup) dried cranberries
- 30g (1/3 cup) sliced (flaked) almonds
- powdered (confectioner’s) sugar for dusting and packing
Directions
Place the granulated sugar, lemon juice and 180ml (3/4 cup) of the water in a medium heavy-based saucepan over medium-low heat (there’s no need to stir). Heat until the sugar dissolves, then increase the heat to medium, bring the mixture to a boil and insert a candy thermometer.
Allow the sugar mixture to continue boiling over low heat, without stirring, until it reaches 127°C (260°F) – hard ball stage – on the candy thermometer. This will take 10 – 15 minutes, depending on how high you have the heat.
Meanwhile, place the remaining 360ml (1-1/2 cups) of water in a medium heavy-based saucepan. Add the cornstarch and cream of tartar and whisk until the cornstarch dissolves completely.
When the sugar syrup is around 118°C (245°F), place the saucepan with the cornstarch mixture over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. The mixture will become thick and pasty.
Once the sugar syrup is at 127°C (260°F), remove it from the heat. Very slowly and carefully pour it into the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly until it is fully combined.
Reduce the heat to minimum and let it cook gently, whisking it every 5 minutes or so, for about 40 minutes, until the mixture has turned a light golden-yellow colour and is very thick and gluey. Be careful not to let it scorch – use a heat dispersal mat, if necessary.
Meanwhile, lightly toast the almonds by tossing continuously in a dry skillet over low heat for about 5 minutes, just until pale golden.
Prepare a setting container (see notes above) by lining with plastic wrap with plenty of overhang, and lightly coat with vegetable oil or non-stick spray.
Remove mixture from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract, cranberries and almonds. Pour into the setting container and spread with a silicon spatula and allow it to cool. Once completely cooled, loosely fold the plastic overhang over the top and let it set at room temperature for 6 – 8 hours or overnight.
If you are coating it in chocolate, jump to the recipe below before proceeding. Otherwise, continue…
Turn out of pan onto a board dusted with powdered sugar, remove the plastic wrap and dust the top with powdered sugar, then cut into pieces with a large, lightly oiled sharp knife. Dust the pieces with powdered sugar and pack in an airtight container in more powdered sugar.
Ingredients
400G (2 cups) granulated (white) sugar
1 tsp lemon juice 540 ml (2 1/4 cups) cold water, divided
80g (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 20g (3 tablespoons) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
powdered (confectioner’s) sugar for dusting and packing
Directions
Place the granulated sugar, lemon juice and 180ml (3/4 cup) of the water in a medium heavy-based saucepan over medium-low heat (there’s no need to stir). Heat until the sugar dissolves, then increase the heat to medium, bring the mixture to a boil and insert a candy thermometer.
Allow the sugar mixture to continue boiling over low heat, without stirring, until it reaches 127°C (260°F) – hard ball stage – on the candy thermometer. This will take 10 – 15 minutes, depending on how high you have the heat.
Meanwhile, place the remaining 360ml (1 1/2 cups) of water in a medium heavy-based saucepan. Add the cornstarch, cream of tartar and cocoa and whisk until the cornstarch dissolves completely.
When the sugar syrup is around 118°C (245°F), place the saucepan with the cornstarch mixture over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. The mixture will become thick and pasty.
Once the sugar syrup is at 127°C (260°F), remove it from the heat. Very slowly and carefully pour it into the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly until it is fully combined.
Reduce the heat to minimum and let it cook gently, whisking it every 5 minutes or so, for about 40 minutes, until the mixture is very thick and gluey. Be careful not to let it scorch – use a heat dispersal mat, if necessary.
Meanwhile, prepare a setting container (see notes above) by lining with plastic wrap with plenty of overhang, and lightly coat with vegetable oil or non-stick spray.
Remove mixture from the heat, whisk in the vanilla extract, pour into the setting container and spread with a silicon spatula and allow it to cool. Once completely cooled, loosely fold the plastic overhang over the top and let it set at room temperature for 6 – 8 hours or overnight.
If you are coating it in chocolate, see the recipe below before proceeding. Otherwise, continue…
Turn out of pan onto a board dusted with powdered sugar or cocoa, remove the plastic wrap and dust the top with powdered sugar, then cut into pieces with a large, lightly oiled sharp knife. Dust the pieces with powdered sugar and pack in an airtight container in more powdered sugar or cocoa.
Tempered chocolate for coating
Servings: makes enough for one batch of Turkish Delight
Preparation time: about 1 hour
Setting time: about 30 minutes
Note: You can just dip the pieces in melted chocolate, but you get more aesthetically pleasing results if you temper it.
Ingredients
250g (9 oz) chocolate of choice
Directions
If coating, you should not dust the Turkish Delight with anything – just turn it out onto a non-porous surface (such as steel, marble or glass) for cutting immediately before preparing the coating.
Finely chop chocolate if in bar/slab form.
Place about 2/3 of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl or top of double-boiler.
Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water), or put the top on the double-boiler.
Using a rubber or silicon spatula, gently stir the chocolate so that it melts evenly.
Once it’s melted, keep an eye on the thermometer – as soon as it reaches 45°C / 113°F remove from heat and place on a towel on the workbench (the towel will soak up any stray moisture so it doesn’t get into your bowl).
Add the unmelted chocolate and stir gently until the temperature of the chocolate drops to 27°C / 80°F. The “seed” chocolate will melt fairly quickly, but it could take a while to get down to temperature.
Put the bowl back on the double boiler set-up on low heat, stirring gently until it has risen back up to working temperature – 32°C / 90°F for dark chocolate, 30°C / 86°F for milk chocolate, or 29°C / 84°F for white chocolate. This will only take a minute. Remove from heat and place back on the towel.
Use a long dipping fork (a fondue fork, for example) to dip each piece of Turkish Delight into the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl to help the excess drip off, then transfer to a sheet of parchment to set.
Daring Kitchen blog-checking lines: For the Month of May, Rachael from Pizzarossa challenged us to make candy but not just any candy! She challenged us to make Turkish Delight, or Lokum.
The original challenge can be found here.
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