Turkish Delight
My dad’s absolute favourite treat has always been Turkish delight. Even today, I can win him over simply by buying or in this case, making some for him. The most authentic Turkish delight is made without gelatine and is traditionally flavoured with rose water.
Other variations include different colours and flavours such as orange blossom water, vanilla, almond, and ginger.
But where does Turkish delight come from? Here’s a quick look at what The Telegraph has written about its origins:
“Turkish delight was invented by Bekir Affendi, who came to Istanbul in 1777 from the eastern province of Anatolia. His first shop, Haci Bekir, in a narrow street close to the spice bazaar, is still owned by his descendants and run by the fifth generation of families he employed.”
Traditionally, Turkish delight is made from a mixture of sugar syrup and starch milk, cooked for five to six hours before the flavouring is added. The mixture is then poured into large wooden trays to set, and after about five hours it is rolled, cut, and dusted with icing sugar. Lokum comes in more than 24 flavours, including rose, mastic, plain, mint, and coffee, and can be filled with walnuts, pistachios, or hazelnuts.
Lokum, known worldwide as Turkish delight is a unique dessert strongly associated with Turkey. Its core ingredients are simple: sugar for sweetness, water for binding, and starch as a thickening agent.
In the recipe below, you’ll find step‑by‑step photos to guide you. Because this recipe has a difficulty rating of 5/5, I recommend reading it carefully and preparing everything exactly as instructed. Use only the best ingredients, avoid substitutions, and make it a day ahead. Set aside enough time to stay close to the stove to ensure the mixture cooks properly. The end result is a silky‑soft confection with a subtle sweetness.
Turkish Delight
Preparation time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Resting time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
4 cups/ 870g Granulated white sugar
1 1/2 cups/ 375ml water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup/ 125g Cornstarch
2 tsp Cream of tarter
3 cups/ 750ml water
2 tbsp Rose water {Variations could be orange blossom, ginger, strawberry, vanilla, chia tea, pistachio, walnut}
few drops of red food colouring
Icing sugar and cornstarch for dusting
Method:
Prepare a square 20 x 20cm deep tray with clingfilm. Add a few drops of oil and cover the dish as well as the sides.
2. In a medium saucepan, add the sugar, water and lemon juice together. Stir and then leave on medium heat to boil for around 15 minutes or until the syrup becomes light brown and reaches 115°C or 240°F. Remove from the heat and place aside.
Add the cornstarch, cream of tarter and water in another medium saucepan. Stir and bring to a simmer. It should start to become thick and like a gel.
Slowly add small amounts of the syrup while stirring vigorously until all the syrup is added.
The mixture should stay on low heat, simmering for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
Stir in the flavouring and food colouring last.
Add the mixture to the prepared dish and allow to cool at room temperature for minimum of 3 hours - 5 hours.
Dust icing sugar and cornstarch over the mixture before removing it from the dish.
Sift more onto the tabletop. Flip the Turkish delight onto the tabletop.
With an oiled sharp knife, cut half an inch size blocks. Separate them and place them into icing sugar- cornstarch mixture. The longer they stay in the sugar, the more sweeter they will become.
Store between parchment paper pieces dusted with icing sugar. Flavours will develop over a couple of days.
