After eating an amazing lunch at a little Turkish restaurant in New Zealand, we ended our meal with a Turkish Delight. Neither my husband, nor I had ever tried this delicious treat. Most people we have asked in the states haven’t tried it either.
It was a beautiful pink color and tasted like a tiny bit of heaven.
Since that day, we’ve been dreaming of them, so we decided to try and make them ourselves. Ours however, didn’t taste exactly like the ones from that magical day, but they are still very good, and just so pretty.
You may remember hearing about Turkish Delights in C. S. Lewis’s, The Chronicles of Narnia. Unlike these little beauties, real Turkish Delight, I’ve learned after researching, is very difficult to make and impossible to perfectly recreate. In The Chronicles of Narnia the witch temps Edmund, to sell out his family by offering him these sweet treats. There is a very interesting article on the reasons why Lewis chose Turkish Delight here.
Below you’ll find the recipe I used. They are easy and fun to make. Almost like a fancy jello, but I’m sad to tell you they’re not close enough to the real thing.
I have heard there are other recipes that use cornflour, I may attempt one of those recipes some time too.
- 3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon rosewater (can be found at Whole Foods or another health food store)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- red pink food coloring
- powdered sugar
- In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the gelatin, white sugar and water until mixed.
- Bring the mixture to a low boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the rosewater, lemon juice, lemon zest & food coloring.
- Rinse a square pan in cold water but don’t dry it off.
- Pour mixture in pan.
- Leave in the fridge overnight.
- Using a sharp oiled knife, cut the Turkish Delight into squares and roll in powdered sugar to coat.
- Enjoy!
