Turkish Delight

Turkish delight has always been a kitchen nemesis of mine. I'm not sure why I thought of it that way, because I had only attempted to make it once before, when I was fifteen. 

Back in the pre-internet days I was reliant on library books, and unfortunately the only recipes I could find all contained gelatine rather than the traditional Turkish method of getting that gorgeous jellyness - cornflour. 

I did try substituting agar agar (the only easily available vegetarian jelling agent at the time). The resulting horror has forever stuck with me. A strange crispy crust, with a jelly centre oozing a watery rose-flavoured liquid. It tasted okay, but that was its only saving grace.

Fast forward 20 plus years and I prepared to do battle with my nemesis once more....

Note: As a rule I don't weigh out ingredients, the sugar was estimated (I had a 500g bag), but because the cornflour is essential to the gelling process I thought I had better be accurate.  Most of the recipes I found, specified using a sugar thermometer. I don't have one, but I figured if the Turks could make it for centuries without, then so could I...

Ingredients

450g granulated sugar

900ml water

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

100g cornflour

100g icing sugar

2 tablespoons orange flower water (or rose water)

50g pistachios (optional)

Additional cornflour and icing sugar to dust

1. Line a tin with oiled cling film (I used a 18cm/7 inch sandwich tin) and put to one side.

2. Pour the 450g granulated sugar into medium sized pan, with 150ml of the water and the cream of tartar. The reason for the cream of tartar is so that the sugar doesn't crystalise as it sets. 

3. Bring to the boil and simmer until it reaches 115C (if you are using a sugar thermometer). If you are cooking by eye, then this stage takes around 10-15 minutes. To tell if it's ready, dip a spoon in the syrup and then plunge it into a glass of cold water. Have a feel of the ball that forms. It should be soft and pliable, Hence the reason this stage is called 'soft ball' in sugarwork.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and put it to one side.

5. Put the 100g cornflour and 100g icing sugar into a large pan, adding a little (~100ml) of the remaining 750ml water and mix it into a paste. Slowly add the remainder of the water whisking to ensure that there are no lumps.

6. Bring this mixture to the boil, whisking constantly until it thickens into a gloopy (technical term) gluey paste. It should take around 5 minutes.

7. Take the pan off the heat and slowly pour in the sugar syrup into the cornflour/icing sugar mixture, whisking all the time.

8. Return the pan to the heat and bring the mixture to the boil, once it starts to boil turn down the heat to a simmer. What's going on in your pan should be similar to a bubbling mud spring except without eruptions (if it gets to that stage turn down the heat).

9. Stir regularly to ensure that the mixture doesn't stick, the aim is to cook it until the mixture reaches 120C, if you're not using a thermometer this will take 30 minutes to an hour. Over this time the mixture will thicken to a jellyish consistancy and becomes progressively harder to whisk. 

For my batch, it reached that stage after around 45 minutes.

10. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the orange flower water (or the rose flower water) and the nuts. If you're using rose water you could always put a drop of red food colouring into the syrup.

11. Pour the mixture into the prepared tray and leave to cool overnight.

12. Once cooled dust the visible side with icing sugar and turn out onto a tray then dust its bottom with more icing sugar. You can cut it into cubes at this stage and eat!

Storage

You may find that on standing the Turkish delight 'leaks' a little liquid, traditionally it should be left in an airy place to 'cure' which will toughen the surface and create the leathery skin you get on the commercially prepared stuff. If you are wanting to save it then I'd recommend leaving it on a baking rack in an airy place for a few days before storing it in a box (cardboard or wooden with lots more icing sugar, don't store in plastic or it will sweat!).