Sky Rockets in Flight: Afternoon Turkish Delight

Early on in the novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of the characters, Edmund, is enchanted and hypnotized by an unusual food: Turkish Delight. 

Now we know that everyone is entitled to their opinions and tastes, but we think Edmund could have done better. Truly, we've just never understood the appeal of the sticky confection known as Turkish Delight. Sure, it's got an interesting history--but in we've always found its texture kind of weird, and it's always seemed to have had a bit of an identity crisis (somewhere between candy, jelly, nougat and fruit roll-ups). However, when we recently came across a recipe for "Turkish Delight Frothy", a kind of nonalcoholic hot toddy featuring the confection, we have to admit we were intrigued, and so we gave it a try.

The recipe had a distinct Middle Eastern feel, what with rosewater, honey, pistachios, and cardamom. This got us all excited--we love Middle Eastern pastries which largely rely on said ingredients.  But would it be enough to make Turkish Delight haters into lovers?

The Turkish Delight Frothy definitely has its strong points. It's warm, spicy, sweet and comforting--like a chai tea latte. However, it's worth noting that rather than masking the flavor of the confectionery, the added ingredients actually managed to heighten it--which we imagine, if you're a fan of the stuff, would be--well, delightful. However, as we sipped we realized that maybe, secretly, brattily, we were hoping that the extra stuff might make frothy might taste like something other than its main ingredient. Le sigh. So while we'll likely stick with hot chocolate and chai as our hot beverages of choice, if you are a fan of Turkish Delight, this one might be worth a try.

Here's the recipe:

Turkish Delight Frothy
Serves: 2

• 2 cups milk
• 2 ounces Turkish delight, cut into small cubes, plus extra for garnish
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons rose water
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• Pinch ground cardamom
• 1 tablespoon unsalted pistachio nuts, finely chopped

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and Turkish delight. Heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture just reaches the boiling point. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer or whisk to beat the cream, rose water, honey and cardamom until just stiff.
3. Divide the milk mixture between 2 serving cups, then top with the whipped cream. Garnish with additional cubes of Turkish delight and the chopped pistachio nuts.
4. Serve it with a spoon for eating unmelted (and delicious) lumps of candy at the bottom.

-- Recipe from Louise Pickford's "Hot Drinks" (Ryland, Peters & Small), we found it via the Seattle PI.

Comments

[Kevin]

What a great way to enjoy Turkish delight!

[lyndsay]

it occurred to me after reading this post that perhaps BIG TURK doesn't exist in America... so i googled it, and it's made by NESTLE CANADA. so the deal is... when i was a kid and i would be getting a ride to the mall or wherever by my dad, i'd open up the glove compartment and there would be a stash of at least three BIG TURKS, essentially chocolate covered cherry-red turkish delight in a "candy bar" format! it's worth a little google, and a little taste next time you're up in Canada... ! there's something so weird about the name of the thing too. a dessert faux turkey made out of BIG TURK would be too awesome.

[Sophie]

I LOVE turkish delight! I think the Narnia movie had something to do with it ;). Super fun idea to bring out the flavors in a smoothie :)!

[beer koozies]

I thought it was going to be some boring old post, but it really compensated for my time. I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.

[Brendan]

I like the regular Turkish Delights (without any nuts or anything). I especially like the orange and strawberry flavors. I like the texture and taste much more than gummies, which I don't seem to care for because they are so rubbery. The powdered sugar puts them over the top. Then again, my wife is a Turkish doctor so I may be biased or just used to them.