Homemade turkish delight

 My first little project for 2013 was to make turkish delight.

I found various recipes online but remained unconvinced. Then I came across Sprinkle Bake's version and I instinctively knew it was THE ONE. Even though it's cooked entirely in a microwave, I went for it because the recipe didn't call for gelatine, which makes it more authentic as far as I was concerned. I didn't have any corn syrup at home so I used maple syrup instead and it seemed to work OK.

Lemon turkish delight with ground pistachios (adapted from Sprinkle Bakes)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of cold water
3/4 cup corn flour, plus 1/2 cup for dusting candy squares
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light maple syrup
1 tablespoon lemon extract
2 drops yellow liquid food coloring
Cooking spray for greasing pan
1/2 cup soft icing sugar
Ground pistachios

Method

1. Pour water into a heat proof bowl and whisk in corn flour until dissolved.

2. Microwave for 2 minutes and then whisk. Repeat. The mixture should be white and pasty.

3. Add sugar and maple syrup and mix well. 

4. Heat for 5 minutes in microwave.  Remove bowl (it will be very hot!) and whisk smooth. Repeat and then add lemon extract and food colouring. Mix well.

5. Microwave for another 3 minutes and then whisk. Repeat again. The mixture should be very thick. The test is to allow a tiny bit of the mixture to cool on a separate dish for a few minutes, it should form a gel like consistency which can be peeled off easily.

6. Grease a loaf pan and add the mixture. Smooth the mixture as best as possible and leave to cool at room temperature.

7. After 2 hours or when set, place the candy on a chopping board dusted with corn flour and cut the candy with a sharp knife into bite sized pieces.
8. Mix 1/2 cup cornflour with 1/2 cup soft icing sugar in a bowl and roll the candy to evenly coat.

9. Sprinkle with ground pistachios and serve.