When I make Turkish Delight at home, the smell of rose oil takes me back to my home town of Isparta where I grew up in Turkey. During rose season in Isparta, rose fields stretch for miles and produce a wonderful fragrance all through the town. It is the only place in whole of Turkey where roses are grown purely for making rose oil and rose products. Rose oil has been exported from Isparta to France and many other countries for perfume making. Also the best rose Turkish Delights are made in the Isparta region as well as rose water and rose jam.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg sugar
- 1400 ml water
For the paste
- 90 g corn or wheat starch
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 350 ml water
For the colour and aroma
- 2-3 drops of rose oil
- natural red food colouring ( optional )
For dusting the Turkish delight
- 150 g icing sugar
- 50 g wheat starch
METHOD
1) Place sugar and water in a heavy pan and bring it to boil. Then turn the heat to medium and continue boiling the syrup for 1 hour.
2) Mix wheat starch with cream tartar and make a paste with 350 ml water.
3) Take one soup ladle of syrup and mix it with the starch mixture to warm it up.
4) Pour the starch mixture into the pan of boiling syrup. Bring it to boil, stirring continuously.
5) When syrup and starch mixture boils, turn the heat to low and simmer it for further 1 hour and 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so it wont stick to the bottom of the pan.
6) When it is pale yellow in colour and glue like in constancy, turn the heat off.
7) Add the rose oil drops and red food coloring with a tooth pick. Mix it well with a wooden spoon and pour it into lightly greased and wax paper lined, square dish 23cm x 23 cm. Sprinkle the top with some wheat starch and set aside to cool for 24 hours.
8) Mix icing sugar and starch for coating.
9) Tip Turkish delight on a clean surface dusted with sugar and starch mixture. Cut it into slices with a knife dipped in, sugar and starch mixture.
10) Coat them in plenty of icing sugar and starch mixture before serving. Makes 90 - 100 Turkish delights depending on the size you cut them. Leave them on a tray for 2-3 days to dry out before storing them in a box on single layer.
COOK'S NOTE : Use a candy thermometer if you have one and insert into the pan towards the end. 235F, 113C is an ideal temperature for the lokum.
Add nuts or different fruit aromas that you prefer at the end of cooking.
12 comments:
I tired this recipe step by step and it did reach 113C on thermometer when I neared the end of cooking. I then poured it into a prepared pan and allowed it to set. Once set it was so wobbly and did not set firm at all. Can you please help chef. Should the mix be really stiff of silky smooth at the end. is 113C not hot enough. I really want to learn to do this as I love Turkish delight. Please help chef.
In my last post i should mention I used 90g of wheat starch.
Hello M. Christie
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and for the comment. I have tried this recipe quite a few times all testing out different temperatures and 113c was the best.
When the turkish delight is ready it should be golden in colour with a glue like consistency (smooth and thick). It is also important to leave it over night in a cool room to help it set.
I hope this helps, if you have any more questions please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks
ps - also it will be worth trying the recipe with corn starch.
Hi Thanks for your reply Fahrye's Kitchen. I will try this recipe again. The first stage of this recipe is to boil together 1kg sugar with 1400ml water. Even though the recipe does say that this should boil for 1 hour over a medium heat, temperatures can vary depending on the type of cooker ring used. I have electric hotplates, not gas. Should the syrup reach a certain temperature before adding the starch and water mixture as I think my syrup may have had too much moisture, even after 1 hour which made the whole mass turn out too soft. It took me 1 3/4 hours to get a temperature of 113C and even then it didn't set firmly enough. Oh by the way your blog recipes look amazing and I enjoy reading them. I love cooking but have always had problem making Turkish delight as it is very tricky to get just right. Thanks for offering to help.
Hello M. Cristie
Thank you for your comments. Yes you are right saying the gas and electric temperatures can vary. I used the gas cooker. I can only suggest you boil it for longer maybe 10-15 minutes at the first stage of the of the recipe because you are using an electric hob. 113c was fine for me but if that didn't work it might be worth increasing the finishing temperature at 114/115c. Let me know how you get on.
Thanks
Can you use artificial sweetner instead of sugar? Or would it affect the temperature so that we won't be able to achieve the desired temperature?
Can I use artificial sweetner instead of sugar, or would it not work because the water/sugar mixture would fail to achieve the desired temperature?
Dear Jo, unfortunately it wouldn't work without sugar.
Best wishes.
I have had trouble locating real Essential Rose Oil in New Zealand. Can you help?
Kay
Hi Kay, you can use rose essence or rose couple of tablespoonfuls of rose water instead. Good luck.
Hello
How is WHITE or CHOCOLATE turkish delights made? do I add milk as oppose to water for the white and chocolate do I just add chocolate?
Sorry, never made it with chocolate.
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