Honey and Lemon Turkish Delight
This week, in our quest to bring you unique recipes from amazing chefs, we shine the spotlight on a delightful Turkish Delight recipe by Angie Boyd, co-owner and Pastry Chef at Sense of Taste. As guest chef on the show ExpressoRecipes she offers up a mouthwatering sweet treat recipe.
The origins of Turkish Delight, or lokum, lead all the way back to the Ottoman Empire and Persia at least as long ago as the late 1700s, possibly longer. This confection is made from a gel of starch and sugar, and contains numerous added exotic ingredients from rose water to pomegranates to pistachios.
In modern times, Turkish Delight was the addictive sweet that Edmund Pevensie fell for in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
The following ingredients make 1 small tray – 20 pieces of 3cm x 3 cm or a little over 1 inch x 1 inch, in cubes (1 ½ cm or a little over half an inch high):
450 g / 1 lb white granulated sugar (Angie uses Selati sugar if you can find it)
50 g glucose
30 g honey of your choice
180 g water
2.5 ml citric acid
80 ml lemon juice
100 g corn flour, slaked in 100 g cold water
5 ml lemon zest, finely grated
Extra corn flour for dusting
At just 5:31 minutes long, this video gives you a good visual of how to whip this enchanted recipe together, although the audio is a bit fast-paced.
Put these ingredients into a pot over low heat: sugar, honey, glucose, 180 g water, citric acid and lemon juice.
Let the sugar dissolve completely before turning up the heat.
Bring the mixture to a boil and boil to between hard ball and small crack stage (125⁰C/257⁰F).
Remove from the heat and whisk a ladle of syrup into the cornstarch.
Return the cornstarch/syrup mixture to the syrup pot and turn it to high heat.
Cook, allowing it to bubble and stir well until it thickens and turns opaque, about 15 minutes.
Lower heat and cook over low heat, stirring for another 10-15 minutes to evaporate excess moisture until it becomes gluey and let the mixture set firmly.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest.
Pour into a foil-lined tray or two or spread on a non-stick baking mat.
Allow it to set at room temperature for several hours.
Turn it out onto cornstarch-dusted silicone paper.
Slice it into squares with a sharp knife and roll them in cornstarch.
Wrap in tissue paper and store in a porous box or paper bag. Do not store in an airtight container, as the Turkish Delight will ‘sweat’ and get wet.
You can check out the show's recipe page here ExpressoRecipes page, and make sure to like it or subscribe to the channel if you enjoy the presentation and the recipe. Thanks to Chef Angie Boyd and the ExpressoRecipes crew for sharing this exquisite recipe with us all.
There’s only one thing left to do… indulge and enjoy!
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