This past week I decided to make Turkish
Delight. I was making it for Muslim
people, so it needed to be halal. This
ruled out a lot of recipes I saw on the internet, because they contain
gelatine, and all the gelatine commonly available in supermarkets here is not
halal. But then I stumbled on this recipe at Titli’s Kitchen that doesn’t use gelatine. And even better, she said this is a more
traditional method of making it!
It turned out so awesomely that I want to share it
with you. So here we go…
Ingredients
800 g (4 cups) sugar
120 g (1 cup) cornflour
375mL (1½ cups) + 500mL (2 cups) water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp rosewater (I added an extra ½ tbsp.)
1 tsp cream of tartar (don’t leave this out as it prevents the sugar
from crystallising)
Few drops of food colouring
For dusting
160 g (1 cup) icing sugar
30 g (¼ cup) cornflour
Extra icing sugar
[Note: This recipe is great for those with allergies and intolerances. There is no dairy, no wheat, no gluten, no
egg, and no nuts. Just make sure you use 100% corn cornflour, not one with
wheat added in.]
Instructions
1.
Place 375 ml (1½ cups) water in a pan. Add in the lemon juice and
sugar. Bring to the boil while stirring.
2.
Once the mixture comes to the boil keep stirring until the temperature
reaches 115°C on a candy thermometer. This is also known as the soft-ball
stage.
I reckon
it’s definitely worth the investment of a candy thermometer for this. It takes the worry and the guesswork out of
it. I got one for only $10. Do be patient when you’re doing this
step. It takes a long time for the syrup
to go up the last 5-10oC.
3.
Once it has reached 115°C, turn off the heat.
4.
In a separate pan add 500 ml (2 cups) of water. Add in the cream of
tartar and the cornflour. Whisk to remove lumps.
In order
to save time, you can start this mixture when the sugar syrup gets to about
105-110 oC. Make sure you
focus on stirring this one, though. The
other one doesn’t need as much attention.
5.
Continue whisking while you bring the cornflour water to the boil. Once
it becomes a gluey paste remove from the heat.
6.
Add a small amount of the sugar syrup to the gluey paste and whisk to
incorporate. Continue adding the syrup a bit at a time, whisking between each
addition.
Make sure
you follow this instruction. If you add
the cornflour mix to the sugar mix, then it will get really lumpy! Trust me, I tried it (and was unsuccessful in
removing the lumps by whisking).
For the
second batch I made sure to follow the instruction of adding the sugar mixture
slowly to the cornflour mixture.
However, some lumps still formed.
If you do
get lumps, strain them out before you do step 7, otherwise it’s too thick to
strain later (I tried this with my first batch!). It’s definitely worth straining, otherwise
you’ll get lumps in the final product.
For the
third batch I took Titli’s advice and used an electric mixer. This worked fantastically well, and the
mixture became beautifully smooth. But
if you decide to use the beaters, be careful what saucepan you decide to use.
7.
Bring the mixture to the boil. Then turn the heat down, and allow to
simmer very gently for about an hour. Stir frequently.
8.
By now the mixture should be an amber colour. Add in the rosewater and
a few drops of food colouring. Mix well.
9.
Take a 20cmx20cm (8″x8″) baking tin, oil lightly, line with baking paper
and lightly oil the baking paper. Pour in the Turkish Delight, cover and leave
for several hours to cool completely.
Even
though it seems strange, I do recommend following this instruction of putting
oil on the top of the baking paper. The
Turkish Delight is so sticky, but the oil (I used spray oil) made it come off
so easily.
10.
Dust the Turkish Delight with icing sugar and turn it out onto a
surface dusted liberally with icing sugar. Remove the baking paper.
11.
Cut the slab of Turkish Delight into squares using a pizza cutter or a
lightly-oiled knife.
12.
Sift the icing sugar and cornflour into a large bowl and add the
squares of Turkish Delight. Mix well.
13.
Storage: Store the Turkish Delight in a sealed box together with all
the icing sugar/cornflour mixture. Do not store in the fridge.
This recipe is quite time consuming and involved,
but the results are fantastic. All 3 of
my batched worked well. They all set
(even the first one when I had to strain lots and was worried there’d be no
cornflour left!).
Even though it uses cornflour, it doesn’t have a
floury taste. The cornflour also gives
it a much nicer texture. It is beautiful
and soft, not rubbery, but melt-in-your-mouth awesome. It also doesn’t need to set or be stored in
the fridge, which is another plus.
So if you have a couple of hours, give it a
go. You’ll be hard pressed to stop after
just one piece! :-)
Yum! The almost finished product.
My friend was a little excited :-)
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