Cooking authentic Turkish Turkish Delight. Turkish delight - benefits and harms to the body

This sweetness is better known in our country as Turkish delight, which, in principle, is not entirely correct. Turkish delight in the homeland of these sweets - in Syria and Turkey - is called only one of the types of delight, in the preparation of which flour is used. There is also lokum without flour, which is commonly called shaker-lokum.

We have Turkish delight - Turkish delight is very popular. Most often, on the shelves of shops or in the markets, it is sold in the form of chopped pieces, abundantly sprinkled with powdered sugar. By the way, it is for this look that this sweetness got its name: Turkish delight in translation from Turkish means “a convenient piece”. And it is Turkish delight that is a delicious souvenir, which is most often brought by tourists from sunny Turkish resorts. There it can be of any color, any taste and with a variety of fillers in the composition: oriental chefs know a lot about frills.

But with all the popularity, Turkish delight is a confectionery product. And some might even suspect that, like any sweet, Turkish delight can be unhealthy for all its virtues. So let's dot the "i".

Composition of delight

The main components of the composition that are present in all varieties of Turkish Delight without exception are starch, water and sugar. Slightly boiled in water, and then hardened starch provides a pleasant soft consistency of the product. The sugar gives it a sweet, desserty taste. These are the only ingredients in the composition of the so-called white delight. Any other species that differs in taste or color contains natural or synthetic dyes or in its composition.

Of course, various fruit juices have long been used to make Turkish delight. It was in them that starch and sugar were added, getting soft sweets with a natural taste. No less often sweets were filled with nuts or peanuts. In some cases, sugar in the composition was replaced with honey, in others, flour was added to the composition. Very refined, in addition, was considered Turkish delight with the addition of rose petals.

All these components that make up Turkish delight, mixed, cooked and specially aged for a certain time, determine the qualities and properties of this delicacy.

What is useful

Turkish delight is a sweet battery for the body. The simple sugar or honey contained in the treat is a rich source of energy for the muscles and brain. Starch is the same simple sugars, collected in long chains. In the body, it is also broken down with the release of large amounts of energy.

But even greater benefits of Turkish delight in fruit or nut varieties. But only in those cases when really natural juice is used for preparation, and not dyes and flavors diluted with water. And nuts, and juices, and rose petals - they all contain certain vitamins and minerals that will be very useful to the body. One has only to take into account that even in natural juices, after preparation and concomitant heat treatment, some of the vitamins are destroyed. Nuts, in this respect, are more stable, therefore, Turkish delight with nuts can be considered the most useful.

And one more very important point: like any sweetness, Turkish delight lifts the mood. Moreover, for this there are not only psychological (this is always a small surprise!), But also purely physiological prerequisites. The sugars in Turkish delight cause the release of serotonin into the bloodstream, which, by acting on the nerve endings in the brain, leads to an increase in brain activity and improves mood. So, one side of the coin is visible to us well. Let's look at another one now.

Harm

With all its virtues, Turkish delight is sweet. The same sugars that make its taste pleasant and unforgettable can turn into big trouble in the case of unbridled passion in the use of even such a soft and unsweetened candy. First of all, Turkish delight should not be consumed by those who suffer from diabetes. An increase in blood sugar levels will occur immediately. At the same time, even a certain amount of starch, which is capable of slightly lowering this level after hyperglycemia, may not help.

If you overeat this oriental sweetness, it can affect the condition of your teeth. And although this is not such a “hard” sweetness as, say, or, the remains of powdered sugar in the mouth will do their job.

Even containing many easily digestible carbohydrates, Turkish delight alone will not be able to cause such severe metabolic disorders that can lead to obesity or diabetes. But together with other sweets - cakes, buns and chocolate - it will fully support this trend. Well, one cannot help but recall the current habits of Turkish delight producers to prepare it using various dyes and food additives. This sin is not only our, domestic producers. Sometimes even Turkey itself - the birthplace of Turkish delight - cannot boast of a lack of oriental sweets. And they, as you know, do not carry benefits to the body.

Therefore, it is difficult to make an unambiguous conclusion about the usefulness of "pieces of pleasure". The sweetness of Turkish Delight is a gastronomic pleasure. It cannot be eaten, like bread, in kilograms - then all its virtues will be lost and only harm will remain. But if you eat a little natural fruit or nut variety from time to time, savoring it and enjoying every bite, then it will definitely have a beneficial effect on both the emotional state and the health of the body as a whole.

Turkish Delight is one of the most exquisite and popular oriental sweets. This delicacy is still associated in the Middle East with heavenly pleasure and royal treats. The taste and aroma of Turkish Delight is as varied and refined as Eastern philosophy. This delicacy first appeared over 500 years ago. The history of its origin is no less interesting, as is the recipe for cooking.

A long time ago in Istanbul there lived a finicky ruler who sometimes could not please even the most skilled chefs. Knowing that Vladyka loves to indulge himself with something sweet, quick chefs prepared extremely unusual delicacies for the Sultan day and night. However, the Turkish ruler rarely praised his culinary specialists and constantly demanded something new and very tasty from them. And once, a Turkish confectioner named Ali Muhyiddin Haji Bekir was lucky enough to really please the Sultan.

The resourceful Ali mixed sugar, water, starch, rose petal syrup, honey and crushed almonds, prepared the mixture in a pot, then cooled it and cut the sweet plates into small strips. He rolled each piece in powdered sugar and laid out a delicacy on a golden tray, after which he presented it to the lord.

Such a novelty brought the Sultan into an indescribable delight - after all, this sweet turned out to be not only incredibly tasty, but also unusually soft. This invention of the Turkish confectioner Ali received the name "Turkish delight", which means "light pieces" in Turkic, and soon became very popular with the Turkish nobility. Lukum was kept in boxes like jewels, and some attributed to this delicacy a true magical origin. Gradually, more and more new recipes for royal treats began to appear: for the preparation of Turkish delight, ingredients such as pistachios and walnuts, various fruit juices, fresh fruits and chocolate began to be used. And at the beginning of the 18th century, another version of Turkish delight appeared, which was called "white splendor". Confectioners from the city of Afion decided to experiment and dilute the delicious mass for Turkish delight with melted cream. Even today, all representatives of this family are very popular, not only in the Middle East, but also in Western Europe.

What is Turkish Delight?

Turkish Delight- This is a Middle Eastern delicacy, which is made using a special technology from sugar and starch, and honey, syrup, dried fruits and nuts are used to give it a special taste. The sweet mass prepared for Turkish delight is infused for two days. Thanks to rose water, Turkish delight has a pinkish color and that exotic taste that made this Turkish delicacy popular all over the world. Ready Turkish delight is stored so that there is no contact with air.

Today, as it is known, there are more than a hundred varieties of Turkish delight. Of course, you can buy them in stores, but you can also cook them yourself at home.

The recipe for this oriental delicacy is simple.

To do this, you need to take cornstarch, crushed gelatin, powdered sugar and a filling of your choice - for example, walnut or hazelnut paste, or the zest of some fruit. Next, you should mix all the ingredients, add a little water and leave the mixture for a day so that it thickens. After that, the mixture is cut into small cubes and sprinkled with powdered sugar. That's all. Your homemade delight is ready!

Here is another Turkish Delight recipe

• Pour into a dry pan:
• cornstarch - 1 cup,
• sugar - 1 cup,
• cinnamon - 0.5 tsp,
• a pinch of vanilla sugar
• instant jelly for the cake - 1 sachet.
• Mix all this thoroughly. Then you need to add 1.5 cups of water.

Then put this mixture on medium heat and, constantly stirring with a wooden spatula, bring to a thick consistency. As soon as the mass begins to thicken, the fire must be minimized, while adding 1/4 tsp. citric acid or lemon peel. After that, it is necessary to mix the mixture thoroughly until a homogeneous mass. The process itself takes about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, add chopped walnuts. We tamp the sweet mixture with the back of a spoon, which must be constantly moistened in water. Then this mass must be cooled, but not in the refrigerator. When the mixture is cold, the tray is turned over, after which it is cut into small squares with a knife. Each square must be dipped in starch. Next, the starch is shaken off, and only then sprinkled with powdered sugar. If you immediately roll in powdered sugar, then moisture will begin to stand out and the surface will become very sticky.

Oriental sweets have gained extraordinary popularity all over the world. And their variety allows everyone to choose a treat to taste. One of the most popular sweets is Turkish delight. However, this dessert, beloved by many, brings not only pleasure and benefits. Of course, if we compare Turkish delight with pastries or chocolates, then it is better for adults to give preference to Turkish delight, but in a very moderate amount.

Useful composition of Turkish delight

The basis of the classic delight is sugar syrup with starch, which determines the high calorie content of this product. So, on average, Turkish delight contains 320 kcal per 100 grams, which is slightly higher than marmalade, which contains an average of 310 kcal. However, the calorie content of Turkish delight is much lower than the calorie content of halva, beloved by many, which is almost 500 Kcal per 100 grams of sweetness.

In the ideal Turkish delight recipe, sugar and starch should be complemented with freshly made fruit puree or natural fruit juice. However, modern manufacturers often replace natural ingredients with molasses and other substitutes.

The properties of Turkish delight will directly depend on its composition, in which agar-agar can be used instead of starch, and honey instead of sugar. Therefore, carefully read the packaging, which should indicate the composition of Turkish delight: sugar, starch, fruit juice or fruit puree. There may also be a small amount of flavorings, plus nuts (except for peanuts, which are not added to Turkish delight), candied fruits, berries, dried fruits. Also, the taste of Turkish delight can be decorated with spices (vanilla, ginger, cinnamon or saffron, which gives the delicacy a rich orange-yellow color). Turkish delight is traditionally sprinkled with powdered sugar or coconut flakes on top so that the sweet pieces do not stick to each other.

Lokum is a soft dessert, which means that its hardness indicates the staleness of the product.

About the benefits of Turkish delight

Of course, the composition of this oriental sweet, beloved by many, determines its properties. If Turkish delight contains nuts, then they give the body a boost of energy, saturate it with vitamins and minerals, strengthening health and increasing the body's defenses.

Sugar, as well as honey, has a beneficial effect on mental performance and on the work of the heart. When spices are added to Turkish delight, it has bactericidal properties, helping to cope with viral diseases. Dried fruits are also a source of vitamins and valuable trace elements.

However, pectin, which is found in fruit puree, can be called the most important beneficial component of Turkish delight. Pectin has a beneficial effect on the work of the intestines, not only saving from constipation, but also removing toxins, toxins and excess cholesterol.

The high calorie content of Turkish delight makes it a product that is “dangerous” for the figure and for people with diabetes.

However, you can significantly reduce the calorie content of lokum and increase its useful qualities by preparing this dessert yourself and, therefore, adding less sugar, as well as supplementing the delicacy with healthy ingredients.

Turkish delight recipes

Despite the fact that there are many cooking recipes, they are all based on starch brewed in sugar syrup.

Turkish delight recipe with nuts

To prepare an oriental sweet, you will need three glasses of granulated sugar, six glasses of water, three glasses of starch, half a glass of powdered sugar, coconut flakes and peeled almonds (hazelnuts).

First you need to divide the nuts into halves and pour the starch into three glasses of water. Mix sugar and the remaining three glasses of water and make syrup from them. In the finished syrup, you need to pour starch in a thin stream and add nuts. The resulting mixture should be boiled until thickened.

The prepared form should be greased with oil and pour hot Turkish delight into it with a layer of 2-2.5 centimeters. When the sweet has cooled, it must be rolled in a mixture of powdered sugar and coconut flakes. Each slice of Turkish delight can be garnished with a whole roasted nut.

fruit delight recipe

Mix sugar and water in equal proportions, bring the resulting syrup to a boil and add starch to it, stirring constantly. As the liquid thickens, you need to add fruit puree to it, which you can prepare from any fruit or berry. The boiling mixture should be kept on low heat for a few more minutes, then put into molds for ice and cool.

Using this recipe, you can get a less calorie and more healthy treat.

How to preserve the beneficial properties of Turkish delight

If you do not live in hot Africa, then you should not store Turkish delight in the refrigerator. It will be enough to wrap it in food paper (parchment) to protect it from excess moisture. In such a package, in a cool, dry place, Turkish delight will be stored for at least 6 months and even up to a year.

The Tale of Lokum

If you translate the words "Turkish delight" into Russian, you get a "comfortable piece", and in another translation "delight for the throat." Both definitions are correct in relation to this oriental sweetness.

Lokum is usually served with tea or fruit juice. And you can also spice up an already delicious dish with an old legend that begins like this ...
A long time ago in one of the eastern countries, there lived a very capricious padishah who was not indifferent to sweets. However, it was not easy to please this ruler. Court confectioners succeeded one another, but the exacting lord was not satisfied with their culinary abilities. The fame of the demanding padishah spread all over the eastern lands.
One day, a young man came to the palace and announced that he could surprise the ruler with his culinary art and prepare a wonderful sweet for him. The confectioner brought with him a syrup made from rose petals, combined it with honey, spices and ground nuts, heated the resulting mixture and added starch to thicken it. When the dessert had cooled, the young man cut it into small pieces, which he laid out on a golden platter. He sprinkled the resulting delicacy with fine powdered sugar and served it to the padishah.
The unusually tasty, pleasant and soft delicacy conquered the ruler and he gave it the name “Turkish Delight”, which meant “a convenient delicate piece”. Over time, the delicacy fell in love with the inhabitants of the East and they began to store it in special boxes, as a precious item.

Of course, the veracity of this legend cannot be verified, but everyone can try the wonderful delicate taste of Turkish delight, as well as cook this delicacy on their own, at home.

Makhnonosova Ekaterina
for women's magazine site

When using and reprinting the material, an active link to the women's online magazine is required

Turkish Delight is one of the most popular oriental sweets. Admirers of this delicacy claim that it is useful. There is some truth in this: most often, the composition of the delicacy includes nuts containing many useful substances, as well as pieces of dried fruit, the benefits of which no one denies. However, nutritionists do not support the idea of ​​including this high-calorie dessert in the daily diet. Obviously, the huge content of sugar and starch in Turkish delight makes it a potentially dangerous product. But if excess weight is not your problem and you do not suffer from diabetes, then from time to time you can treat yourself to this sweetness.

Traditional Turkish delight recipes do not contain animal products, including gelatin, so this dessert can be eaten in fasting. It is also suitable for a vegetarian table. When buying a treat in a store, you can not always be sure that it does not contain artificial additives and gelatin. Turkish delight made at home can be considered the safest for health. The process of preparing this oriental delicacy has certain subtleties, but with patience and carefully following the instructions, even a novice cook will cope with the task.

Cooking features

The simple composition of Turkish Delight creates a misleading impression: it seems that it is also easy to prepare. In fact, in order to get a product of the right consistency, sometimes you have to spend a lot of products until you can learn to understand when the starch mass and molasses reach readiness. If you overcook or undercook them, the delicacy turns out to be too soft or, on the contrary, too dense. To reduce the number of unsuccessful experiments to a minimum or even to zero will help to know a few points.

• Molasses is boiled in water or juice. It is better to start by cooking it on the water. It is important to adhere to the proportions indicated in the recipe. The syrup is boiled until it acquires a delicate caramel-golden hue.
• The starch mass is boiled until it begins to become transparent.
• If you are preparing Turkish delight with nuts, they must first be peeled and dried. Some recipes also include grinding them. To clean the nuts from the husk, they are poured twice with boiling water, left for 10 minutes, washed with cold water. After such procedures, the husk is removed easily. Peeled nuts are roasted in a dry frying pan or in the oven for 5-10 minutes, stirring them periodically. Grind the nuts with a knife, as the pieces should not be small.
• Chopped or whole nuts, candied fruits are mixed into the finished starch-sugar mixture, then it is laid out in a mold and cooled. To make it easier to take the treat out of the mold, it is pre-covered with cling film. For reliability, the film can be covered with a thin layer of vegetable oil.
• Lemon juice, vanillin, cinnamon, and other spices are often added to Turkish Delight base mix for flavor and aroma.

The frozen Turkish delight is cut into cubes and rolled in a mixture of starch and powdered sugar so that the delicacy does not stick to the hands and does not stick together during storage. Instead of starch and powdered sugar, or in addition to them, you can use nut crumbs or coconut flakes to sprinkle Turkish delight.

Basic Turkish delight recipe

• sugar - 0.3 kg;
• water - 0.3 l;
• corn starch - 100 g;
• citric acid - 1 g;
• vanillin (optional) - 1 g;
• powdered sugar - 50 g.

Cooking method:

• Dilute half of the starch indicated in the recipe with 200 ml of cold but boiled water. Stir. Put on a slow fire. Cook, stirring, until the mixture first turns white and then begins to lighten.
• Boil the molasses in a separate container. To do this, mix the remaining water with sugar and heat until it acquires an appetizing golden color. The finished molasses turns out to be almost as thick as liquid honey, with a subtle smell of caramel.
• Combine the molasses with the starch mass, add citric acid and vanillin to them.
• Boil the mixture, stirring constantly, until the mixing process becomes difficult.
• Cover the form with cling film, pour a thick mixture into it, smooth it with a spatula.
• Cover with cling film on top and refrigerate.
• After 6-8 hours (not earlier), sprinkle Turkish delight with a mixture of powdered sugar and starch. Pour the same mixture onto a board, turn Turkish delight on it, remove the form and film. Sprinkle the treat with the starch-sugar mixture on the other side. Cut into cubes, dip their sides in the dry mixture, transfer them to a dish.

Only after all the described manipulations have been completed, Turkish delight can be served at the table. It goes especially well with tea.

Turkish delight with hazelnuts

• sugar - 0.4 kg;
• water - 0.4 l, including 100 ml for syrup, 0.3 l for starch mass;
• corn starch - 110 g, including 75 g for starch mass, 35 g for sprinkling;
• lemon juice - 40 ml;
• hazelnuts - 100 g;
• vanillin - 1 g;
• powdered sugar - 50 g.

Cooking method:

• Sprinkle nuts on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, put a baking sheet with hazelnuts in it. Roast them for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Let the nuts cool, remove the husks from them.
• Pour 100 ml of water into the pan, add sugar, pour in a spoonful of lemon juice, mix.
• Put the pot on a slow fire. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Boil the syrup until it hardens when placed in cold water. Put it in a glass of cold water with a small spoon. If the syrup is boiled over low heat, it will turn out light, with a barely noticeable golden hue. If you cook it over medium heat, it will turn out darker, like caramel. On medium heat, the syrup will boil down to the desired state in about 5 minutes, on slow it will take twice as long to cook.
• Remove the finished syrup from the heat and temporarily set aside.
• Place 75 g of starch in a clean saucepan, fill it with the remaining water, mix. Add a spoonful of lemon juice (20 ml).
• Reduce starch mixture until translucent. The starch mass can only be cooked over low heat, stirring constantly. The process of preparing a composition of the desired consistency from starch takes approximately 20 minutes.
• Beating the starch mass with a whisk, pour caramel into it. Mix well.
• Cook the resulting thick mixture over low heat for 20 minutes.
• Add vanilla, stir.
• Add nuts and stir again.
• Wrap a rectangular shape with cling film. It does not hurt to lubricate the film itself with vegetable oil, but this is not mandatory.
• Pour the sweet mass into the prepared form.
• Put the Turkish delight in the refrigerator until it is completely solidified. This will happen no earlier than 6 hours later.
• Frozen Turkish delight remove from the mold, cut into cubes.
• Mix the remaining starch with powdered sugar, roll sweet cubes in this mixture.
  Transfer the dessert to a bowl and serve with tea.

According to the proposed recipe, Turkish delight can be prepared not only with hazelnuts, but also with other nuts. Cashews, almonds, pistachios are often used.

Turkish delight from rose petals

• corn starch - 150 g;
• granulated sugar - 0.2 kg;
• powdered sugar - 50 g;
• water - 0.4 l;
• lemon zest - 10 g;
• lemon juice - 20 ml;
• rose petal jam - 60 ml;
• dried rose petals (optional, for serving) - to taste.

Cooking method:

• Pour a glass of water into the pan, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat.
• Pour into simmering water. Stir it until completely dissolved.
• Add lemon zest and juice, boil the syrup for 2-3 minutes.
• Add jam, stir. Continue to boil the syrup for another 3-4 minutes, until it acquires a caramel hue.
• In the remaining water, dilute 100 g of starch.
• While stirring the syrup, pour starch into it in a thin stream.
• Boil the mixture to the desired density.
• Pour the sweet mass into a mold covered with cling film.
• Place the mold in the refrigerator, leave for 6-8 hours.
• Cut the delicacy into cubes, dip them on all sides in a mixture of powdered sugar and the remaining starch.

Put the Turkish delight on a dish, sprinkle it with rose petals.

Creamy Turkish Delight

• sugar - 140 g;
• semolina - 140 g;
• fat cream (for whipping) - 80 ml;
• milk - 0.4 l;
• water - 0.2 l;
• almonds or other nuts - 100 g;
• coconut flakes - 100 g.

Cooking method:

• Mix milk with water, heat.
• Pour semolina into the boiling mixture in a thin stream, add sugar.
• Cook the mixture, stirring, until it thickens.
• Pour boiling water over the almonds, after 10 minutes put them in a colander, pour over with a stream of cold water, peel. Fry for 5 minutes in a dry frying pan. Cool, crush with a knife.
• Pour the almonds into a thick porridge, mix.
• Cool the porridge to room temperature.
• Whip cream, mix with semolina.
• Put in the refrigerator for an hour.
• Scoop the resulting dense mixture with a spoon, form balls out of it, roll them in coconut flakes, transfer to a dish.

Turkish delight prepared according to this recipe is very different from the traditional one, but it also turns out delicious.

Oriental sweets are popular all over the world. These desserts include Turkish delight, which is native to Turkey. Previously, making this delicacy was considered an art, but today every housewife can master it. The composition of Turkish delight is simple, you just need to know the intricacies of its manufacturing technology.

Chapter:
Oriental sweets
2nd page of the section

Classic sweets
Part 2
Turkish Delight, Shaker Delight

These desserts are airy and literally melt in your mouth, and therefore will appeal to the most fastidious sweet tooth.

FROM THE HISTORY
Turkish delight (a modified Arabic name meaning "sweetness for the throat") is one of the most famous oriental delicacies. In the West, it received the eloquent name "Turkish Delight". (Turkish Delight - colorful boxes with such inscriptions are sold everywhere, both in Turkey and in European supermarkets.) The Turks themselves call these fragrant soft sweets "lokum".
The recipe for Turkish delight at the end of the 18th century was compiled by the Turkish confectioner Ali Mahiddin Bekir. He allegedly set to work at the request of the Sultan, who was tired of chewing hard sweets.
According to another version, the Sultan ordered the best confectioners of the Ottoman Empire to prepare a new dessert to please his numerous wives.
As a result of culinary experiments, a soft, tender delicacy appeared, the preparation of which is not difficult, but requires some patience. Ali Mahiddin mixed hot sugar syrup with starch dissolved in water and poured the resulting mixture into a flat mould, greased with oil. After waiting for the viscous mass to harden, Ali Mahiddin cut it into pieces and sprinkled it with powdered sugar.
A simple recipe, as often happens, became the basis for further experiments. To cater to different tastes, honey, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, cinnamon, lemon zest, fruits and chocolate were added to Turkish delight.
Modern confectioners, reverently related to tradition, try to use only rose water in the preparation of delicacies, as in the original recipe.
Ali Mahiddin gained wide popularity in the Turkish capital. In the center of Istanbul, he opened a small shop, which is still owned by his descendants.
Turkish Delight quickly gained popularity and was sold throughout the Ottoman Empire and beyond. It has become a familiar component of the cuisine of the Balkan and Middle Eastern countries.
In the 19th century, it was brought to Western Europe, where the Turkish delicacy, perfect for tea, was especially fond of the British.

TECHNOLOGICAL Trick
To prevent Turkish delight from getting wet during storage, it is first rolled in starch, and then in powdered sugar.

RAHAT LUKUM CITRUS

Ingredients :
5 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 1/2 cup starch, zest from 1 orange or lemon, 2-3 drops lemon or orange oil, 4-5 tbsp. spoons of powdered sugar.

Cooking

Dissolve the starch in 1 cup of cold water and stir well so that there are no lumps. Pour sugar into a saucepan with the remaining water, stirring occasionally, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes.
After that, with a strong boil of sugar syrup, pour in the starch solution, reduce the heat, add the finely grated zest of a lemon or orange and, stirring constantly, cook until the mass thickens.
When the Turkish delight lags behind the walls of the dish, add citrus oil, mix again and put the dish on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or in molds, level, flatten the surface with a wet spoon and let cool for 4-5 hours.
Cut the finished dessert into squares, roll in powdered sugar and serve to the table, putting it in a vase.

RAHAT LUKUM ALMOND

Ingredients :
3 cups sugar 6 cups water 3 cups cornstarch 1/2 cup blanched almonds 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cooking

Cut the shelled almonds into halves. Dilute starch with cold water (3 cups), stir so that there are no lumps, and leave for a while.
Pour sugar into the pan, pour it with the remaining water and, stirring from time to time, bring to a boil, removing the foam. After that, pour in, stirring quickly, the starch solution, add the almonds and, stirring constantly, boil until the mass thickens.
Then put the Turkish delight on a tray with high sides or on a baking sheet, form a rectangular layer 2-2.5 cm thick with hands moistened with cold water or a spoon and let it harden.
After that, cut the Turkish delight into small pieces, roll in powdered sugar, put in a vase or on a plate and serve.

RAKHAT LUKUM STUFFED

Ingredients :
4 cups sugar, 4 cups water, 3 tbsp. tablespoons of starch, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 cup of peeled almonds, 1/2-1 cup of powdered sugar.

Cooking

Almonds (you can replace it with hazelnuts or roasted and peeled peanuts) are strung on threads 15-20 cm long, tying a match to the lower end of the thread so that the nuts hold. Starch pour 1 cup of cold water, stir and leave for a while.
Pour sugar into a saucepan with water and boil water over high heat, removing the foam if necessary, then, stirring constantly, pour in the starch solution and continue cooking until the mass begins to lag behind the walls of the dish. Then put the pan in a water bath so that the Turkish delight remains warm all the time, lower the nuts, alternately strung on threads, into it, immediately remove and wait until the mass hardens on them.
Repeat this procedure several times, building up the layer of Turkish delight to the desired thickness (the Turkish delight in the pan should remain warm).
Leave the stuffed lokum for several hours to dry completely, and then carefully, holding a match, pull out the threads.
Roll the resulting pieces in powdered sugar, put on a plate or in a vase and serve as a dessert.

RAHAT LUKUM VANILLA

Ingredients :
1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/5 teaspoon vanilla, citric acid at the tip of a knife.

Cooking

After mixing sugar with water, prepare a syrup (to improve the gelling process, you can add a little gelatin to it), pour starch into it and boil it, adding citric acid and vanillin at the end.
After cooking, pour the resulting cooled mass into trays lined with parchment paper, let the mass thicken and after 4 hours cut into rectangular pieces, roll them in powdered sugar and place in a dry cardboard box.
To add color and taste to Turkish delight, you can add a little fruit and berry juice or syrup.

RAKHAT LUKUM "ASSORTED"

Ingredients :
4 cups sugar, 1 liter of water, 100 g of rice, wheat or corn starch, 3-4 tbsp. spoons of fruit syrup, 1/2 cup of any shelled nuts, 2 teaspoons of lemon or orange peel, 1/4 teaspoon of saffron or turmeric, 1 packet of vanilla sugar, 100 g of powdered sugar.

Cooking

Prepare the nuts: divide the walnuts into quarters, roasted and peeled peanuts and almonds into halves. Dissolve starch in a glass of cold water. Pour the remaining water into a copper basin, add sugar and cook, removing the foam, until the syrup becomes transparent.
After that, with a strong boil, pour in the starch solution and, continuously stirring with a wooden spoon, cook over low heat until thickened. Then, still stirring, alternately add fruit syrup, saffron or turmeric, nuts and zest and continue to cook until semi-solid, stirring all the time so that the delight does not burn.
After that, put it on a baking sheet or tray with a layer of 2-2.5 cm and cool for 3-4 hours.
Serve in a bowl, cut into squares and sprinkled with a mixture of vanilla and icing sugar.

RAHAT LUKUM RICE

Ingredients :
1 incomplete glass of rice, 1 liter of water, 3 cups of sugar, 1 cup of orange, apricot or peach juice, 1 cup of powdered sugar.

Cooking

Rinse the rice, dry it, pour it into a pot of boiling water and boil it so that the cereal is completely boiled. Pour the juice into another bowl, add sugar, stir and cook, stirring constantly and removing the foam, for 40 minutes until the state of "thin thread".
Rub the rice cooked to a pasty state through a sieve, combine with fruit syrup and, stirring constantly, continue to cook over low heat until the mass lags behind the walls of the dish.
After the lokum has cooled down a bit, put it on a board or baking sheet in the form of a layer as thick as a finger, trim the edges, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar on top and leave to harden for 24 hours.
Cut the finished lokum into squares, roll them in powdered sugar and serve in a vase.

Turkish Delight "ROSE OF THE EAST"

Ingredients :
3 art. tablespoons of starch, 4 cups of water, 4 cups of sugar, 2 tbsp. spoons of cherry or raspberry syrup, 1-2 drops of rose oil, 20 g of butter or margarine, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.

Cooking

Pour starch with cold water (1 cup), stir and set aside. Pour sugar into a saucepan with water and bring the sugar syrup to a boil over high heat, periodically removing the foam. Then, stirring constantly, pour in the starch solution and continue to cook until the mass begins to lag behind the walls of the dish.
After that, remove the Turkish delight from the heat, add cherry or raspberry syrup and rose oil, mix well, put on a baking sheet greased with butter, mold into a rectangular layer 2-3 cm thick and leave for 3-4 hours in a cool place.
When the lokum hardens, cut it into small pieces, roll them in powdered sugar, put in a vase and serve with tea.

SHAKER-LUKUM

Ingredients :
1.5 cups wheat flour, 4 tbsp. tablespoons melted butter, 2/3 cup powdered sugar, 2 egg yolks, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of cognac, 1/4 teaspoon of saffron.

Cooking

Pour saffron with cognac and stir. Grind melted butter until white. Grind the raw yolks with powdered sugar, add melted butter and cognac with saffron, mix well, add the sifted flour and knead the dough. Put it in the refrigerator for 7-10 minutes, then form into balls the size of a walnut and flatten them slightly to make thick cakes.
Put them on a baking sheet, put in a preheated oven and bake on low heat for 7-10 minutes.
Put the finished products on a dish or plate and serve with tea.

It turns out that 100 years ago there was already a problem of food additives and artificial colors and their replacement of natural ingredients. So really - "nothing new under the sun."

"COOKING REAL TURKISH RAHAT LUKUM"
Article from the journal "Bulletin of the Imperial Russian Society of Horticulture" for 1902

The necessary utensils for the preparation of Turkish delight can always be found in any household and comes down to a simple enameled cauldron, which can be replaced by a brass basin from under the jam. In addition, you need some other vessel for diluting starch and a thin hair (so-called silk) sieve for sifting powdered sugar. Finally, for the manufacture of real fruit Turkish delight, a second hair sieve is used, woven into a double thread and distinguished by its strength. If the product is produced in large sizes for an industrial purpose, then it is more profitable to buy a rubbing machine for rubbing the fruit mass, which greatly speeds up and facilitates the work. Finally, for pouring sheet Turkish delight, tin sheets with rims are also used, which should not be used for other purposes, especially for roasting.

As for the constituent parts used in the aforementioned production, they are reduced to the following products.

Starch: the main condition for obtaining a good, transparent Turkish delight is to use the purest wheat starch. Real wheat starch, examined under a microscope, appears as small grains bound together by gluten. To the naked eye, it appears in the form of oblong prismatic columns with sharp edges (radiant or crystalline starch) or in the form of irregularly shaped pieces. The latter type of it contains a slightly larger amount of gluten, and therefore is especially suitable for the purposes of interest to us. A very good product is also obtained from rice starch, while the cheapest is made from potato starch.

Sugar: used in the case of the head, the highest dignity, part of it turns into the smallest powder and is sifted through a silk sieve. Stocks of fine sugar should be kept in a tin or bottle with a ground stopper, making sure that they do not become damp.

For flavoring Turkish delight of the highest grades, various varieties of fruit purees, rubbed through a sieve, are used. Very hard fruits require preliminary softening by blending in water. In medium grades, puree is not put at all, they are replaced entirely by aromatic fruit essences and essential oils, and Turkish delight has to be slightly tinted with harmless confectionery paints. All these formulations can be purchased at large pharmacy stores. The best grades of paint are French, from the Breton factory, which have a significant concentration and are therefore the cheapest. The most commonly used red paint can also be made at home, for which you should buy 4 parts of cochineal and grind it in a porcelain mortar with 1 part by weight of tartaric acid and dilute everything gradually with 60 parts of filter water. Then everything is boiled well and stored in a tightly corked bottle.

For the filling of Turkish delight, peeled almonds are used, and for some varieties - peeled nuts or pistachios, strung like a rosary on strong linen threads. Before use, fruits should be carefully sorted, smaller ones should be selected from large ones and each size should be strung separately. Both almonds and pistachios should be immersed in cold water immediately after peeling to prevent them from turning black.

Finally, in the highest grades of Turkish delight, it is advised to add at least a small amount of gum tragacanth or gelatin. If you cook the product on starch alone, then you would have to brew the mass too thickly, which must inevitably respond to the tenderness of the finished Turkish delight, gum and gelatin give it a certain lightness, especially appreciated by lovers. Both named glues are diluted to smoothness in water and poured into the welded mass.

As for the process of making Turkish delight, it is as follows: after weighing the required amount of starch (about 5 lots), it is poured with 2 glasses of cold water and allowed to stand for a while. Then the syrup is boiled from 2 cups of water and 2 pounds of sugar, it is carefully cleaned of foam, and when the syrup becomes completely transparent, then the starch diluted to smoothness is poured into it, stirring relentlessly. When the mass is so boiled down that it lags behind the edges and walls of the vessel, then it is removed from the fire, colors and aromas are added, kneaded well until smooth and poured onto the prepared sheet, after which it is taken out to the cold. When the mass hardens and hardens well, then it is cut into pieces and rolled more carefully in powdered sugar.

Stuffed Turkish Delight is molded somewhat differently.

The mass here is cooked a little thinner, the boiler with it is placed in another vessel with boiling water so that it remains warm all the time. Threads with strung almonds are lowered alternately into the mass and immediately they are suspended until the mass hardens on them. Then, the remaining mass is heated, gently stirred and the threads with almonds are again lowered into it. This is repeated until the Turkish delight acquires the proper thickness, then it is allowed to dry thoroughly and, carefully pulling the thread from the middle, the resulting cylindrical pieces are rolled in powdered sugar.

Here are some tried and tested recipes for making Turkish Delight.

APPLE RAHAT LUKUM:
Take 2 pounds of Antonov apples, cut them into circles with the skin on, add half a pound of sugar, a few tablespoons of water, simmer in a saucepan with a lid, rub through a sieve. Separately boil syrup from 2 pounds of sugar and 1 bottle of water, add applesauce and season everything with 5 lots of rice or wheat starch, reduce to the desired thickness. You can take only 4 lots of starch and add a few leaves of dissolved gelatin. After removing the mass from the heat, pour 2-3 drops of lemon oil into it, if desired, and proceed further, as explained above. This Turkish delight is not tinted with anything. In exactly the same way, a product made from black currants, apricots, etc. is brewed.

STRAWBERRY AND RASPBERRY RAHAT LUKUM:
Prepared according to the previous recipe, but the berries for them are not shaded, but wiped raw. The mass requires a light touch-up in red with cochineal solution.

ALMOND RAHAT LUKUM
It is prepared as the previous ones, but the fruit mass is not put into it, the mass is flavored after cooking with a few drops of bitter almond oil. This addition must be made with great care, because due to the hydrocyanic acid contained in it, this oil can be a strong poison. It is therefore necessary to buy exclusively only the most expensive variety of it, and, moreover, in stores that are completely trustworthy, on which you can fully rely on them to give a well-refined product.

In exactly the same way, Turkish delight is prepared vanilla (tinted pale pink), lemon (tinted yellow with saffron) and pink, and the corresponding oils and essential essences are added. Finally, according to the same recipe, you can cook all commercial varieties of Turkish delight with the aroma of various fruits and berries, and they are tinted in the appropriate colors.
Be especially careful when sprinkling the mass with fine sugar, otherwise it will stretch and stick to your fingers and to the bottom of the box. Usually sprinkled pieces of Turkish delight are allowed to stand for several days in a warm room, and then they are again rolled in sugar and put into storage.

TURKISH DELIGHT
In a tinned copper dish with a convex bottom, sugar and water (1/2 l) are heated to a boil. Wheat or maize (corn) starch is diluted in cold water (1/2 l). Separately, in cold water, a cremortator is diluted (1/4 cup) (a white powder that prevents crystallization; sold at a pharmacy). When the sugar syrup boils, add cold water (1/2 l), diluted creamer, starch to it, stirring along the bottom of the dish with a wooden spatula. This mixture, without ceasing to stir, is boiled to a semi-solid state, put fruit supply or candied fruits, vanilla or essence into it, paint over with food paint, mix thoroughly and spread on a wooden tray or sheet, cool, then cut into small rectangles.
For 1 kg of granulated sugar - 150 g of starch, 3 g of a creamer, 20 g of candied fruit or fruit supply, 1/2 g of vanilla, 20 drops of essence.

TURKISH DELIGHT
For syrup: 1 kg sugar, 300 g water.
For starched milk: 100 g of rice, wheat or corn starch, 200 g of cold boiled water.
For sprinkling Turkish Delight: 100 g of powdered sugar, 1 cm of vanilla stick or a bag of vanilla sugar.
For cooking Turkish Delight: 3-4 st. spoons of syrup from jam or fruit puree, 2 teaspoons of lemon or orange peel, 1 drop of rose oil or 1 teaspoon of rose syrup (see above), 100 g of peeled nuts (almonds, hazelnuts), 1 pinch of saffron or turmeric.
Cooking:
1. Boil sugar syrup in a cauldron or a copper basin, pour starch milk (a mixture of water and starch) into it at a strong boil and, reducing the heat, stir all the time with a wooden spoon until the mass thickens.
2. Add the remaining ingredients in the following order: fruit puree, spices, rose oil, nuts, agar-agar. Cook until semi-solid, all the while stirring with a spoon along the bottom of the cauldron, preventing the mass from burning.
3. Pour the finished mass into a wooden baking sheet with a layer of 2.5 cm, let it harden for 3-4 hours, then cut into square pieces and sprinkle with powdered sugar with vanilla.

TURKISH DELIGHT

The name Turkish delight is perhaps no less famous when it comes to oriental sweets than halva. And Turkish delight is no less ancient dish. Like halva, there are many variants of it, like halva, Turkish delight was prepared by special kandalachi chefs. Most likely, the birthplace of Turkish delight is Turkey. We suggest you try two versions of Turkish Delight: with pistachios and fruit.

For Turkish delight with pistachios, take three and a half cups of granulated sugar, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of potato starch, 300 - 400 grams of pistachios and a little citric acid. Boil sugar with water, add starch and cook until thickened. Add citric acid at the very end. Let's take a flat form and pour about half of the pistachios into it, fill it with the resulting mass (in fact, it is called Turkish delight), sprinkle the remaining pistachios on top and let it cool. Turkish delight is served cut into oblong pieces.

For fruit Turkish delight, take again three and a half cups of granulated sugar, 1 cup of potato starch, 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar, vanillin, citric acid and fruit molasses. Boil sugar together with one glass of water, add starch and cook until thickened. At the very end, add fruit molasses, vanilla and citric acid. Then we merge the mass into a flat shape and let it harden. Turkish delight is also served cut into pieces and sprinkled with powdered sugar.