Lokum (Turkish Delight) Recipe

❓Why This Recipe Works

• An easy recipe with simple ingredients, no Xanthan gum or other special ingredients.
• No thermometer needed.
• Very adaptable to your liking in terms of texture with lots of flavors.
• Vegan, gluten free and if you leave out the nuts it will be nut free candy recipe too!

If you look up Lokum or Turkish delight, many people describe it as soft and sometimes very soft. I came to realize that different people have different perspectives of the delight.

The Turkish delight I grew up with in Egypt is stretchy and chewy, not as if you are eating jello. The most common problem I saw that people complain that their Turkish delight did not set to their liking.

After a dozen of trials I've come to a recipe that is so simple and very adaptive. You'll finally get your perfect delight according to your taste and not mine.

This recipe does not need a candy thermometer nor it needs cream of tartar, we will simply depend on your senses to determine the right time to take it off the heat.

📝 Ingredients

The full ingredient list is in the recipe card below.

🥄 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.

1. Set a timer to 1 hour. Add fifth of the sugar and mix well until completely dissolved.
2. Pour 1 Tablespoon corn syrup and mix. Repeat this process every 5 minutes until you are done with the whole sugar and corn syrup.

1. We aim that the bottom of the pan be clear with no burnt mixture as shown above.
2. Keep cooking the mixture on very low flame and start checking the consistency when your timer reads 10 minutes. Take a small portion of the mixture with a spoon and dip it in a cup of iced water. Wait until it cools down completely and test the texture. You might want to chew on it as well to make sure it has reached your preferred texture.

1. Take it out of the heat, add food coloring and mix. Adjust the flavor to you liking if you need to add more rosewater, this is the time to do so.
2. Mix in nuts if using.

1. Empty the Turkish delight mixture in a container lined with parchment paper.
2. Wet your hands with water and carefully press the delights to fill the container.

1. Dust a cutting board with a mixture of confectioners sugar and cornstarch. Flip the delights over and dust the other side as well.
2. Using a sharp knife cut into 1-inch squares. Dust the sides of each square with more of the cornstarch mixture to prevent stickiness.

💡 Tips

• You can use juice instead of water but be careful with the sugar, adjust sugar level to your liking.
• You can also use milk, but when using milk do not add lime juice until you are done with adding all the sugar and corn syrup or else your milk will curdle.
• When using juice or milk keep in mind that your delights might take longer to cook to your perfection. For my taste it took me almost 30 minutes more.
• You can use any flavor extract you like but the most traditional Turkish delight flavors are rosewater, vanilla, lemon, mint, pomegranate and mastic. I’ve made this with great success using pomegranate juice and crushed mastic.
• The most famous in Egypt is vanilla flavored with walnuts and shaped into a rope.
• If you have a candy thermometer and if it would help you to know, my Turkish delights was good for me when it reached between 195F and 205F.
• Getting the right texture depends greatly on what you like and on the heat you are using. I've noticed that to reach the right texture for me it takes 1 hour on electric stove while the same consistency takes 1 hour and 10 minutes on gas stove.
• We had so much fun using the Wilton color right chart to make different colors for our delights.

Troubleshooting

• If the Turkish delight is grainy or has bits of something like hard candy then you either did not give sugar time to dissolve and melt between addition, was in a hurry and added the sugar all at once or in less addition, the heat was high and you did not turn it to the lowest possible flame.
• If your Turkish delights did not set to what you want, do not throw it away. Here is how to fix that.: in a saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of water and the unset delights and turn the heat to low. Break up the delights with a spatula to help them melt back. Keep cooking and stirring every 5 minutes. Adding an extra 1-2 teaspoons of lime juice OR raising the heat can accelerate the setting. BUT you need to be aware that adding extra lime juice could affect the taste, this is not a problem when making lemon or pomegranate flavored ones but if you are making other flavors it might be unpleasant. Also raising the heat to medium-low can expedite the cooking but you need to stay there and stir every minute or two to prevent burning.

You Might Need

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We loved using the Wilton color right set, it helped us make many color combination for different occasions and it was fun to use with kids.

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