Day 5 - Turkish Delight
The 13 Days of Victory Kitchen Christmas
Last year I made Turkish delight for the first time. I was tickled pink with how easy it was to make and how successful I felt in making candy. (Homemade candy and I have a love/hate relationship.) Turkish Delight is so satisfying to eat which makes it easy to understand why wartime sugar-starved Edmund in The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe was so tempted by them. They really are so soft and divine!
Last year’s flavors were cherry (colored red) and banana (colored green). I was feeling mischievous. lol This year I wanted to try some citrus flavors. So I made orange and lemon. Next year I think I might try making peppermint or wintergreen. (I don’t know if I’d recommend the clove flavor! Yikes!) While rose is the most traditional, there are so many flavor options. This candy is just so fun to make!
There are a few keys to making successful Turkish Delight.
Pour the candy into a glass bread loaf pan. This will ensure the candy is deep enough. You’re going for 1” cubes.
Use a short, sharp knife to cut around the edge and into about 15 cubes. It will be a fight to get that knife through there, so keep dipping it in powdered sugar. I found rubbing a light layer of powered sugar on the top helped too.
Lemon - clear as glass! 
Orange - glowing in the light Use liberal amounts of powdered sugar to keep it from being sticky. Because this stuff is so sticky! Once the cubes are cut, when you’re pulling that first square out of there (which is the hardest!), get a good-sized pinch of powered sugar to dust the edge as you pull it out. The cubes pull apart fairly easily, but if you weren’t able to cut all the way to the bottom there will be parts you’ll need to slice to get the cube free. It’s pretty forgiving stuff thanks to the gelatin!
Roll the cube in the powdered sugar and knock off the excess. Store in an air tight container, dusting with more powdered sugar to keep them from sticking together.
These candies are really the most fun to make and to eat! And it’s just really thrilling to share with friends the infamous Turkish Delight that proved to be such a temptation to Edmund Pevensie!
Serving suggestion: Tuck in while watching The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe!
Join me for Day 4 tomorrow!
I love Turkish Delight but usually have the rose-flavoured one. This recipe sparked a memory for me, my Mum made these once when I was a kid, I helped her roll them in the icing sugar, they tasted delicious. Thanks for the memory, and the recipe!
I've never had Turkish Delight, but I feel so inspired to try! How beautiful!