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Turkish Delight, called Lokum in Turkey, is a sweetly flavored jelly candy ideal year-round. This recipe uses rosewater, but you may add cinnamon, orange, vanilla, or bergamot.
Turkish Delight (Lokum), a delicious, aromatic, chewy jelly candy, has been a staple of my motherland, Turkey, since Ottoman times. My favorite recipe is here, and I’m pleased to offer it.
Turkish treats resemble marshmallows and jelly sweets. You may flavor it several ways. Rosewater, with its delicate floral flavor, is used in this dish. Find our favorite rosewater in our shop or on the foreign department of your supermarket store.
Our “What Is Rose Water And How Do You Use It” important guide explains rosewater, how to cook with it, our favorite variety, and how it’s manufactured. Use a gentle touch to avoid soapy flavor. If you dislike rosewater, use your preferred extract or dried fruit.
Create a festive dessert plate with this bite-sized candy, Egyptian Butter Cookies, Italian Biscotti, Candied Orange Peels, and Kuru Kayısı Tatlısı (Turkish Poached Apricots With Ricotta) to celebrate multicultural cuisines.
“Afiyet Olsun,” in Turkish, means “May you be happy and healthy with this food.” Like me, I hope you enjoy creating this lokum dish at home.
Turkish Delight?
Lokum, or Turkish Delight, is a fragrant jelly candy confection from Turkey. I create beautiful candies using rosewater, bergamot, cinnamon, orange, coconut, dried fruits, and nuts. They vary in color, texture, and taste throughout Turkey.
Turkey serves these exquisite chocolates with coffee to end a meal and on dessert plates for holidays, weddings, and other special events. People enjoy them year-round when they can!
Turkish Delight Origins
Ottoman cuisine includes lokum, which many Middle Eastern and Balkan nations have borrowed.
Turkish Lokum comes from Arabic luqma, meaning mouthful or tidbit. Lokum was originally termed “rahatu’l – hulkum,” meaning ‘with ease,’ since it soothed the throat and was readily absorbed. The sweet became known as “rahat lokum” and subsequently “lokum.”
Name wasn’t the only change. The Ottomans produced crude Turkish pleasure using honey or molasses. After refined sugar arrived in the late 18th century, it became the preferred sweetener.
Haci Bekir, a great confectioner, used white sugar and cornstarch cleverly. He was called to Topkapi Palace to produce Turkey’s signature dessert.
Later, rosewater and mastic, a tree resin used in ice cream and commercial Turkish pleasures, were added to make the candy more fragrant and chewier.
Turkish delight (lokum) ingredients: powdered sugar, cornstarch, superfine sugar, cold water, lemon, powdered gelatin, rose water, red food coloring, and gold edible glitter.
Turkish Delight contents
Powdered sugar sweetens and prevents chopped pieces from sticking.
Cornstarch: Mixed with powdered sugar to absorb moisture and applied to hot sugar mixture to bond sweets.
Superfine (Baker’s sugar): If you can’t locate it, you can create it at home. Pulse granulated sugar in a food processor for 30 seconds. Plain granulated sugar works, but the candy is less sweet.
Lemon: Lemon juice adds taste and prevents sugar crystallization.
Gelatin: Binds. Turkish pleasure would collapse without it.
Although I adore rosewater, if you’re new to the taste, start with half the quantity in this recipe. Or use your favorite extract.
Using food coloring to make it pink is optional. You may omit it or color it with pomegranate juice.
Edible glitter: A unique treat. Do not need it.
Making Turkish Delight
Timing and a candy thermometer are essential for making Turkish delight.
Turkish Delight sticks, therefore prepare the baking dish. Success requires parchmenting your baking dish.
Mix powdered sugar and cornstarch for dusting. One fraction will be used to sprinkle the candy after setting to avoid sticking.
To prepare sugar syrup, mix superfine sugar, lemon juice, and 1 ¾ cups water in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
Make candy: Mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch and ½ cup cold water in a small dish. Stir into heated sugar syrup. Whisk the gelatin into the sugar syrup to remove lumps. Bring to a boil (a candy thermometer reads 250°F). Whisk regularly while simmering over medium heat for 20 minutes. The mixture is done when it thickens and becomes light yellow, like a soft jelly setting.
Flavor and set the candy: Let it cool for 5 minutes. Mix in rose water and 1–2 drops crimson food coloring. If using chopped nuts, mix in immediately. Put the mixture in the dish. Keep it cold on your countertop overnight. Ideal setting time is 10–12 hours, however you may leave it for 24 hours.
Cut the Turkish delight: Dust a cutting board with the saved dusting mixture and place the candy on it. Cut candy straight down with a sharp knife or bench scraper. Cut cubes without dragging the knife. Dust each cut cube with the mixture.
Sprinkle edible glitter on Turkish delight if using.
Dry: Parchment a baking sheet. Place Turkish delight cubes on the tray with space between them. Sprinkle the remaining cornstarch mixture over the candy and let it on your countertop for 24 hours. It resembles handmade marshmallows and soft jelly.
Enjoy and store: Turkish pleasure lasts a month in a dry area. Lay the candy between parchment paper in an airtight container on your countertop in a cool, dry spot away from light and heat. Leave room between Turkish delight pieces.
Variety of Turkish Delight
Rosewater is a popular Turkish pleasure taste, however there are many varieties. You’ll probably make your own if you start cooking it at home.
Many types of Turkish pleasure are available in Turkey today:
- mint
- Orange, lemon, bergamot, cinnamon, orange blossom water
- Nuts are prevalent. Add roughly 2 ounces or ½ cup of nuts when using them. They should be chopped before putting to sweets.
- pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds
Tips for Making Turkish Delights
Candymaking is both art and science. Follow these candy-making guidelines for success every time.
Without experience, a candy thermometer helps reach the hard ball sugar stage (250°F) for setting this candy.
Allow another 8 hours or a day to set if it hasn’t; humidity and room coolness may affect drying time.
Preservative-free homemade Turkish delight is softer than commercially supplied.
The Turkish delight air should dry for 24 hours after cutting. To prevent handmade Turkish delight from sweating, serve lokum on a dish with coffee.
Storage of Turkish Delights
An airtight glass or metal container in a cabinet or pantry away from heat and sunshine is ideal for storing Turkish delight. Keep them for a month.
Do not keep Turkish delight in the fridge since it sweats and loses moisture.
Ideal for Gifting
These sweets make great Christmas presents. Sprinkle cornstarch inside a paper bag to prevent Turkish treats from sticking when gifting. Try adding edible glitter for a festive touch. Seal the bag and share with distant relatives and friends.
