DEVIL IN THE SUGAR

Saturday before last, while sitting in the kitchen, I had a sudden, phantom waft of rosewater... and that got me thinking, Turkish Delight.

Yet I had a 'Lumo' party to attend so I had to put that thought on hold.

The party was awesome, and I got to dance for hours on end... rosewater forgotten.

Then on Thursday, while planning to make proper Marzipan from scratch, in order to make an authentic Stollen (German Christmas Bread), I noticed I'll need rosewater... and so this (mis)adventure started.

Initially, I was hoping to find natural, fragrant, delicate pink roses in bloom... but once you look under the skirt of this 'blushing bride' you too may agree that sugar roses sum it up much better.

There's absolutely nothing natural or wholesome about this popular little treat. It literally consists of little more than loads and loads of cornstarch and sugar dissolved in water and held together with gelatine. 

To top it off, it's incredibly wasteful. 

Once the pink stuff is set, you then have to dehydrate it again with loads and loads of cornstarch over days till all you're left with is a gelatinous rosewater and lemon-flavoured lethal dose of cornstarch and sugar. 

I was initially torn between sharing this recipe and banning it from my world indefinitely, but annoying as this was to make and unhealthy as it is to eat, I could not fault the end product - proper Turkish Delight, so here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

125ml cornstarch, sifted 

300ml water 

500g sugar 

25ml food grade  rosewater 

the juice of two lemons 

25g gelatine 

125ml water 

copious amounts of cornstarch

Instructions:

1. Line a 20 x 25 cm pan with wax paper; 

2. Scatter the gelatine over the 125ml water and put one side to sponge; 

3. Add just enough water to the 125ml cornstarch to form a paste; 

4. Mix the rest of the water, sugar, rose water and lemon juice in a medium sized pot, and stir over low heat till the sugar dissolves; 

5. Add the cornstarch paste to the water and stirring throughout, boil for ten minutes or until it because translucent and tastes cooked; 

6. Melt the gelatine in the microwave for approximately 20 seconds until it's dissolved; 

7. Holding it high above the pot, drizzle it in while stirring vigorously; 

8. Add a few drops of pink food colourant and stir it in evenly;

9. Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and place a piece of wax paper over the top surface; 

10. Allow it to cool at room temperature;

11. Scatter a generous amount of cornstarch in a container;

12. Cut the Turkish Delight into 3 x 3 cm blocks and transfer them onto the cornstarch, then sieve a generous amount of cornstarch over them too; 

13. Let the blocks dehydrate this way for several days and repeat this process with fresh cornstarch if the cornstarch gets moist;

Enjoy at your own discretion!

WORDS: rhodenel©10NOV2024 

PHOTOGRAPHY: anonymous©2NOV2024; rhoderuth©8NOV2024; rhoderuth©10NOV2024