Today I learned HOW-TO Make Turkish Delights!

After my drastically failed attempt, and then a LONG evening of dedicated do-over,
I have done it! So here's the learning process in action:

The Ingredients

You know, I learned with this recipe that one of my pet peeves is when recipes lump together a sum of an ingredient when it's actually added in various increments throughout the recipe. I very nearly had 1 1/4 cups of cornstarch in my gluey mixture because of this practice. Who wants to stop and do mental math at a critical juncture of the process when every second counts?

I broke down the recipe for you according to the steps of the process:

To Coat the Pan

extra light olive oil

Sugar Mixture

4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1 tbs. lemon juice

Jelly (Gluey) mixture

1 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. cream of tartar

3 cups water

Last Ingredient

3 tbs. rose water

Powder Coating

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

This recipe is very close to the last recipe I tried with a few minor exceptions that made a big difference. The last recipe I tried, while quite close to this one, was not as clear in its instructions and contained some inconsistencies. For instance, the video told me I needed 1 1/2 cups of corn starch, the written recipe told me that I needed 1 1/4 cups of cornstarch, the instructions told me to add 1 cup of cornstarch, but that recipe never told me what to do with the remaining 1/4 or 1/2 cup of cornstarch after making the gluey. So one of the most important things I learned is to study the recipe before you ever get started. I probably would have noticed earlier but I was distracted by the video with its cool bop-iddy-bop-bop Middle Eastern music in the background and the tutorial lady's charming accent.
 
Before you start, I would recommend measuring all the ingredients and having them ready to go. You need a larger pan and a smaller pan. Start the sugar mixture in the smaller pan because you'll be pouring it into the larger pan.
 

Step #1 Make the Sugar Mixture

   

Tah-Dah! My lovely new Tramontina stainless steel saucepan!

I'm not getting any endorsements from Tramontina or anything,

(LoL!) but I have to say that they make nice, heavy-duty cookware.

They're thick bottomed, heat evenly and are great quality.

There are some purchases where you can pinch pennies,

but I have learned that a quality product is worth the extra.

Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way...

*Sniffle*

I bought this a month ago because it was a big beautiful shiny wok for my stir-frying.

Be sure to look for stainless steel because the only thing this is good for now

is gonging intruders over the head.

 

Anyway, back to Turkish delight...  

This is the water, lemon juice and sugar mixture over medium heat.

(I began this process at about 10:15 p.m.)

You keep stirring this until the sugar dissolves and it starts to boil.

Then you turn the heat to low and let is simmer

until it reaches 240F on the candy thermometer.

 

This part took MuCH LonGeR than I anticipated.

I probably spent a good hour waiting for that blue vein to rise.

I stood there listening to Enya music and watched this sort of hypnotizing bubble ballet.

 

The bubbles would appear from nowhere within the mixture.

They'd form and then pop up to the surface.

Sometimes there would be little bubble geysers.

I spent a lot of time watching the hypnotic bubbles.

After about an hour of watching the little bubbles and not

seeing any temperature increases I decided my "low" setting was too low,

and that these bubbles were lazy. I turned up the heat and finally got to 240F.

 

Step #2 - Make the Gluey Mixture

Now you mix the cornstarch, water and cream of tartar over medium heat.

I didn't get any photos of this part of the process,
mostly because it was the part that left me wary.

Basically you stir like crazy until it starts to boil.
 After it boils it will start to become gluey.

I found a trick is in the sound of mixture.
Stirring sounds less splishy as it gets thicker.

Early warning signs are extremely helpful to the process
and I'm glad to have tagged this one.

 

Now as soon as it starts to become glue-like you pour the Sugar Mixture
into the cornstarch mixture.

Stir it like crazy for five minutes until it starts to look like this:

Kind of reminds me of the goo from lemon meringue pie.

 

Now comes the labor-intensive part. You stir. And you watch. And you stir some more. And you watch. And you stir until your arm feels like it's going to fall off and you watch until your brain cells will start dying off from lack of stimulation. Having done this solo, I would recommend having someone available to relieve you. About 45 minutes into this part of the process (about midnight) I realized it wasn't really simmering, it was just warm, so I turned up the heat. It probably varies from stove to stove. While I was waiting for it to heat, I became so bored for something to do that I decided to learn how to make lemonade from lemon juice.

 

I was into a rhythm at this point and knew I had about two minutes before it started bubbling and I'd have to stir again. I stirred and ran to Google "lemonade from lemon juice." As soon as I found a recipe, I dashed back and stirred the goo. After stirring, I ran back to the computer and copy-pasted into a word document and popped the Turkish delight recipe print-out in so I could print the lemonade recipe on the back. I printed it and dashed with it back to the kitchen, glad to be done with the back and forth part of it. I looked at the Lemonade recipe:

 

AAAAAAH! OH NO!  

 

No Lemonade Recipe and now no Turkish Delight Recipe! SO back and forth I dashed again until I reprinted the Lemonade Recipe and the Turkish Delight recipe. I used my sugar mixture pan to make the simple syrup, stirring my Turkish Delight every two minutes or so. I added the lemon juice and water it asked me to add, mixed it up and stuck it in a cup with some ice cubes.

 

Ah! What a refreshing-looking diversion.  

Of course when I took a big gulp my face turned to a permanent pucker and

I immediately sprouted 37 chest hairs. Whoo! So, I won't be sharing that recipe with you.

Unless you have some furniture that needs stripping...

 

So, back to the Turkish Delight,

I noticed as I waited that the mixture began to lose its cloudiness

and become much more gel-like and thicker.

It was also harder to stir.

Either that or my arms were giving up on me and going to fall off.

I amused myself by making up songs about life with no arms.

They were quite inspirational, I'm sure.

 

The mixture also became a slightly darker golden color,

and I could tell that it was a lot closer to the consistency that I was looking for, although it said in the recipe when it "has become a golden color"
so I was looking for some sort of notable change.

When I realized that the consistency was right where I wanted it,
my gut told me if I kept stirring, waiting for some color change

 that I would have missed my mark.

 

I added the rosewater and poured it into my prepared pan
and waited for morning to come.

I'm pretty sure I was stirring with an imaginary spoon in my sleep.

I had a dream about stirring Turkish Delight over a fire
in a huge cauldron with a giant spoon.

When I woke up I remembered it was a real spoon I saw in Hakone (Japan).

 

Waybums is in this picture, too. Sort of. Behind the spoon.

 

And then came the morning!

It looked perfect and gelled. So I followed through the rest of the recipe.

Turning it on a surface was easy.

I would recommend a light layer of olive oil to keep it from sticking.

Close-up of the Delight and its waxed-paper wrinkles.

Coat in cornstarch and powdered sugar...

Be sure to mix the cornstarch and sugar well first.

 

Turkish Delight!

I tasted a piece after I had them all powdered and put away.

I was most surprised at how smooth and creamy they are.

Yum-may!

So, I gave my sample plate to the most discerning palate in the house.

She took a bite and regarded the candy.

And then declared it "the best most tasty ever in the world."

Even our house-rabbit Jazzy tried to steal a piece.

I thought he was going for the rose petals but he hopped away with a candy in his mouth!

Hmm. Related to the Easter Bunny?

 

Waybums suggested all the flavors she'd like to try.

Cherry. Strawberry. Orange.

You can make it any flavor you want.

As it is, it tastes like a rich honeyish lemon flavor.

 

This recipe can be found here.

So, all-in-all not a bad experience. Turkish delight dates back to 1500s so it's kind of cool to make an ancient candy recipe the traditional way. I won't be making it every day, but I can definitely see making it again for special occasions. Waybums has already put an order in for her birthday.

 

I know you had to wait a while for me to post this lesson, but one great thing I learned from this experience is that whether something turns out or it doesn't, waiting for the outcome will at least grant you more patience.

And Tramontina - feel free to have your people call my people. ;)

 

I'll keep you posted.