Turkish delight

Make these squares of rose- and pistachio-flavoured Turkish delight to give as gifts 

  

Homemade sweets and candies are always a pleasure to make and to receive. You could also try adding pure lemon extract and a drop of yellow food colour in place of the rosewater and pink colouring here.

MAKES : 20 pieces

INGREDIENTS

• 375g caster sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 25g gelatin powder
• 100g cornflour
• 25g icing sugar
• sunflower oil, for brushing the tin
• 2-3 tsp rosewater
• pink food-colouring paste
• 50g shelled unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped

METHOD

Tip the sugar into a medium-sized pan and add the lemon juice and 300ml of water.
Stir over a low heat to dissolve the sugar, then bring gently to the boil.
Mix the gelatin with 75g of the cornflour and 200ml water and add to the pan.
Stir constantly until the gelatin has dissolved, then continue  to simmer very gently for 20 minutes, until thickened.
Mix together the remaining cornflour and the icing sugar.
Lightly oil a 20cm square baking tin with a depth of  4-5cm and line it with cling film.
Lightly dust the cling film with some of the cornflour mixture, tipping out the excess.
Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool. Add the rosewater, food colouring and pistachios and pour the mixture into the tin.
Spread level and leave to cool for at least four hours, or until completely set before cutting into squares and dusting  with the rest of the icing sugar and cornflour mixture.
Stored in an airtight container, these will keep for about a week.

Source: The Telegraph