Turkish delight or Lokum as it is also known is a sweet fragrant jelly confection traditionally flavoured with rosewater and heavily dusted with icing sugar and cornflour.
It is not difficult to make your own homemade Turkish delight but it does require a bit of patience as it requires long slow cooking with frequent stirring. Your efforts are rewarded with a delicious sweet treat.
Turkish delight is served alongside coffee or tea in Middle Eastern households try it as a tasty alternative to a biscuit or cookie. Growing up we always had a box of Turkish delight every Christmas, it was my mother's favourite treat alongside dates in a box with a plastic stem that doubled up as a prong to pick up the dates.
I must confess back then I wasn't a fan (which probably pleased my mum as it left more for her!) But as with many foods my tastes have changed over the years and I now love it, although I've never come to like the rose flavour. My favourite flavours are mint, lemon or vanilla with pistachio nuts.
Today I sometimes serve with coffee at the end of a special meal or just treat myself to a cube or two as a snack at any time. It also makes a fabulous foodie gift for friends.
Variations
I've chosen the classic rose flavour Turkish delight for this recipe but you can easily change the flavour to suit your own tastes. The possibilities are endless orange flower water or citrus flavours are also traditional as are oils flavoured with cinnamon or peppermint which are sometimes used as an alternative to rosewater.
You can also flavour with fruit extracts such as raspberry. Nuts can be added at the same stage you add the flavour as well as a suitable food colouring.
Suitable for Vegans
Unlike some jelly sweets Turkish delight is not usually made with gelatine, so it is suitable for vegetarians and vegans but it is worth noting that some commercial brands do use gelatine, so the best way to guarantee that it is suitable for vegans is to make your own.
Cooking the Turkish delight
It is made by combining sugar syrup with a cornflower mixture which is then cooked together very slowly until it forms a dense sticky Jelly.
When combining the sugar syrup with the cornflower mixture this should be added slowly to avoid any lumps. Add the syrup in small quantities and beat well until completely smooth. You can do this beating with a wooden spoon but you may find it easier to use a balloon whisk at this stage. Do not be tempted to rush this step.
Once combined the mixture is then boiled very gently until the mixture forms a very thick jelly and turns a golden amber colour. This will take at least an hour and here is where you will need to be patient.
You cannot just leave and forget about it as during this time you will have to stir frequently particularly towards the end and always taking care to make sure you get right into the corners of the pain. Many recipes suggest that it should be stirred continuously. While I have not found that strictly necessary I really do mean frequently every minute or two.
I find it best to use a wooden spoon at this stage as I find the balloon whisk does not get right into the corners and it is here that the mixture will tend to burn.
Once cooked the Turkish delight is then flavoured and a little food colouring can be added at this stage too. It is then poured into a tin and allowed to set for at least 6 hours or up to 24 before cutting into squares and dusting with an icing sugar and cornflour mixture to prevent them from sticking together.
How to store
Once cut into squares and dusted with the icing sugar mixture I find it is best to leave them out to dry for 24 hours before packing into a loosely covered container at cool room temperature. Airtight containers are not the best as Turkish delight tends to sweat. It will keep for up to a month.
More confectionary you might like to make
📖 Recipe
Homemade Turkish Delight (Lokum)
Equipment
- 18cm square cake tin
- non stick baking parchment
- 2 large saucepans
- sugar thermometer
Ingredients
- a little vegetable oil for greasing
- 1 litre (1¾pts) water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 800 g (1lb 12oz) granulated sugar
- 125 g (4oz) cornflour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1-2 tablespoon rose water
- few drops pink food colouring
To complete
- 50 g (2oz) icing sugar
- 15 g (½oz) cornflour
Instructions
- Line a 18cm (7in) square pan with non stick baking parchment and oil the paper.
- Place 500ml (18floz) water, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 800h (1lb 12oz) sugar in a heavy based saucepan and bring gently to the boil, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved. Once all the sugar has dissolved increase the heat, cover the pan with a lid and allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute.
- Remove the lid. Continue to boil the syrup without stirring until the temperature reaches 115°C (239°F). Remove from the heat and set to one side.
- Place 125g (4oz) cornflour and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar in a large saucepan and gradually stir in 500ml (18floz) water a little at a time. Once the cornflour and water have been combined, cook gently stirring with a wooden spoon all the time until the mixture forms a very thick gluey paste.
- Remove from the heat and gradually beat in the sugar syrup a little at a time, beating well until smooth after each addition. Do not rush this step.
- Return to the heat and bring slowly to the boil, stirring well, then reduce the heat and simmer very very gently for about 1 hour, stirring frequently. Make sure you get into the corners of the pan so that the mixture doesn't catch. The mixture will turn a golden amber colour when it is cooked sufficiently.
- Remove from the heat and stir in 1-2 tablespoon rose water and a few drops of pink food colour. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and allow to set for at least 6 hours.
To complete
- Sift 50g (2oz) icing sugar and 15g (½oz) cornflour together into a bowl. Then sift a little of sugar and cornflour mixture over the set Turkish delight.
- Turn out onto a sheet of baking parchmentand dust with more icing sugar mixture. Cut into squares using a lightly oiled knife.
- Drop the squares a few at a time into the remaining icing sugar mixture and toss to coat well.
Notes
- It is important not to rush adding the sugar syrup to the cornflour mixture as any lumps that you allow to form at this stage will be impossible to remove from the Turkish delight mixture.
- Very frequent stirring is essential during while cooking the Turkish Delight.
- Store in a covered container in a cool dry place for up to 1 month.
- Do not freeze.
Henry says
love the recipe. fairly easy to make and I use them for energy when cycling.
one thing. there is a typo on the temperature for the syrup boiling. the F conversion should be 239°f instead of 139.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
So please that you enjoy making this recipe and Thank you for letting me know about the typo I have changed it.
B Bond says
this is the the second time trying to make Turkish delight the first time we used a different recipe and it turned out rock solid but I didn't read the comments before making it I then tried this recipe and it's much better. I'm not good with temperatures on the hob so I wasnt sure what number to put the hob on to so I don't know if it was to low or too high I cooked it for an hour and it had darker amber specks in it which I'm not sure if it was just burnt but the rest was a dark yellow in colour or a light amber so wasn't sure weather to cook on a higher temp or to cook longer I kept switching between 3 and 4 on the hob as I didn't want to burn it. but it turned out ok it wasn't solid like the first recipe but it wasn't as hard like when you buy Turkish delight in shops it was soft but solid enough to hold it's shape and it wasn't as sticky as I thought it would be when you cut into it. but when you bite into it, it melts in your mouth so you don't really need to chew, next time I'm going to keep it on temperature 4 at that last stage to see if it goes a darker amber but they are really nice thank you I'll definitely use this recipe again
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Im glad ypou had success with this recipe. sometimes you fo need to get to know the best setting for your hob. I cook on a gas hob which does not tend to catch on the bottom as some lectrice hobs seem to. I hope the next attempt is just perfect. If so do pop back and give me a star rating if you have time as google picks up on that as a good signal this helping me reach more people.
B bond says
sorry I forgot to rate I didn't see it until it was too late everyone who tried it loved it I'm going to try a mint and orange flavour next time to see how they taste
Ricky says
Thank you for the recipe tastes great. I did mine in dark chocolate molds. I made prior to making delights and did tsp of rose water with 1/2 tsp raspberry extract
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
sounds delicious
Zac says
Great recipe! Followed the instructions and it turned out perfectly. After the first hour of simmering I had to turn the heat up a little bit to achieve the golden amber but I assume that is because my electric stove top is old and doesn’t retain heat well. Other than that made no adjustments to the instructions.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Better to get there slowly than to be in patient as its more likely to burn so good job you did the right thing. So pleased you thought the end result worth the effort.
Richard says
I seem to be having a weird combination of issues that other people have had.
I cooked the mixture for about 45 minutes, at which point it was so stiff I could barely get it off a spoon and into a tin to set. However, it hadn't gone amber yet. How are you supposed to let it get to amber before turning out, if it's that hard to stir/spoon out?
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
It does go extremely thick even before turning amber but so long as you have not added toomuch cornflour then it should not go any thicker once it has turned translucent. and you may well need to scrao the the last of it off the spoon to get it into the tin,
Nick says
So easy to follow, thank you
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
You are welcome. Gald you liked it.
Matthew says
Just made a batch of this and the result is very wet and sticky. Not managed to achieve the correct firmness, even after simmering for an hour and leaving for 24 hours. Wondering if it needed more time on the heat, when simmering, or even more heat than it had? It never quite got amber/golden, I would describe the colour as more greenish. Would like to give it another go, but don’t want another wasted batch.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
If it didnt reach the amber golden stage then I am afraid it just didn't have enough cooking. It can be frustratingly slow to change and although it's tempting to turn up the heat to hurry it along that risks the mixture burning. Im afraid it is just a case of lots of patience. If you haven't ditched the first batch you could try returning to the pan and cooking for longer.
Chris Williams says
I followe the recipe to the letter, it took the required 1.5 hours but at the end my mixture was so thick I had to spoon it into the tin. and then could not achieve a smooth surface. It was almost set at that point. Now 24 hours later it tastes fine (using 3/4 tsp rose essence) but is a very firm jelly. Where did I go wrong?
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
I'm sorry it didn't turn out as smooth as you would have liked but glad that it tasted good. It sounds to me like you just cooked it a little too long. The recipes says to cook for about 1 hour (although exactly how long it takes to turn apple golden will vary from cook to cook) so if you cooked yours for 1½ hours that is likely the cause. I would suggest next time you don't cook it as long.
Jennian says
Can rose extract be substituted for 2tbsp rose water and still taste traditional? If so, how much should be used? Thank you! My husband loves these and I'm hoping to surprise him with some homemade fr the holidays.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
I can not see why you couldn't use extract as I often use orange or lemon extract in mine. Personally I'm not a fan of rose Turkish Delight. But I am sorry but I can not tell you how much to use as I have not tested it but I would imagine only a ¼ to ½ teaspoon.
Sammy says
This looks so amazing, thanks so much for sharing. Quick question, in step 6 you mention stirring frequently, does this mean stirring all of the time without leaving the pan or just intermittently? Sorry if this seems like a silly question ☺️ x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Not a silly question at all. Stirring frequently means that you do not have to stir continuously however you certainly can leave the room and go do something else but you might be able to start to tidy up,put the odd thing away or wipe down a surface etc between stirring. The later in the cooking process the more frequently you will need to stir . Hope this helps
Sammy says
Thank you so much, that’s really helpful x
Saffi says
Amazing. Can't wait to.try. can you coat in chocolate?
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
I have not tried dipping them in chocolate but I don't see why you couldn't. But you would need to make sure it has dried sufficiently as any moisture would cause the chocolate to sieze. If you give it a go do let me know how you get on.
Lupita Vidajic says
The recipe seems wonderful. If I wanted to add strawberry extract instead of rose water, how much should I add? I know that extracts are stronger in flavor and it's easy to overdo it.
Thanks on advance!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
I would add ½ tsp.
Heather Johnstone says
I'd love to try making Turkish delight. Can you use other flavours besides rose water?
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
You can indeed vary the flavour you add, see variations in the post above.I like mint as well as vanilla with the addion on pistachios
Charlene Miller says
If you were making the orange or vanilla flavors, how much of them would you add (the same 2 Tablespoons as the rose water)?
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
It will depend a little on the quality of the flavourings you were using. Extracts are much more concentrated than the rose water so I would used 1 tsp.
Chloe Edges says
Looks fab, its never even occurred to me to home make Turkish delight before!
Louise Fairweather says
This looks amazing. What a great gift. Thanks for sharing #cookblogshare
Janice says
Turkish Delight takes me right back to Christmas with my grandfather. He loved it and we always made sure he had a box to enjoy. I'm pretty fond of it myself now, especially homemade or the real high-quality kind.
Rebecca - Glutarama says
I've always been worried that Turkish Delight is difficult to make but your simple step-by-step instructions have encouraged me to give it a go ... I am a HUGE fan of Turkish Delight after all.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
So long as you dont rush it, it really is quite simple to make.
Angela Hook says
The recipe worked a dream, and is absolutely delicious! Will definitely be making more to give as Christmas presents! Thank you
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Thanks Angela I'm sure you will have some very happy friends there is something rather special about Homemade Turkish Delight.
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
This looks beautiful and such a pretty colour!
Helen @ family-friends-food.com says
That looks amazing! I would never have thought that Turkish delight was something that could be made at home. Thanks for sharing! #cookblogshare