Name: Really Easy Turkish Delight - Printable Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 36
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: Large Saucepan; Wooden Spoon; Jug; 20cm (8″) Silicone Pan *; 500ml (2 Cups + 1 tbsp) Water, divided; 375g (1 + 3/4 Cups + 2 tbsp) Caster/Superfine Sugar; 1 x Lemon, juice only; 75g (1/2 Cup + 2 tbsp) Cornflour/Cornstarch, plus extra for dusting; 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum; 25g (3 tbsp) Gelatine Powder; 2 tbsp Rose Water; Red Food Colouring; 200g (1 + 1/2 Cup) Icing Sugar, for dusting

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(This post has been updated from the original April 2012 version to provide a better experience for you)

Want to make your own Turkish delight but no idea where to start? Made it before and don’t know how to stop it sweating? You’re in the right place! This step by step Turkish delight recipe has a non traditional twist. Making it quicker and easier to create these delicate, rose flavoured treats at home. Including lots of helpful tips, and a solution to prevent sweating! Keep reading for the full recipe…

Someone taking a piece of Turkish delight from a plate on two stacked books

Turkish delight recipe video tutorial

In this short, step by step video, you can see just how easy it is to make Turkish delight at home. Alternatively, keep reading for plenty of tips, FAQs, and helpful info about the recipe, ingredients and timings.

What is traditional Turkish delight made of?

Traditional Turkish delight is made using water, cornflour, lemon juice, sugar, rosewater and a little colouring. It takes quite a long time to make.

Cubes of Turkish delight in a bowl of icing sugar

Does Turkish delight have gelatine?

Traditional Turkish delight does not have gelatine. It’s set using only cornflour, but takes a long time to make as a result.

It’s worth pointing out that this Turkish delight recipe is not a traditional one. It adds gelatine to speed up the process, making it quicker and easier for you to make it at home.

Turkish delight on a plate over an embossed board

What does Turkish delight taste like?

Turkish delight has a very soft gel like texture with a delicate rose water flavour. There are other flavours of course, but the traditional one is rose. It’s quite a subtle floral flavour, but very unique.

Turkish delight on a plate over books, with squeezed lemon at the side

Is Turkish delight healthy?

Absolutely not! Turkish delight is filled with lots of sugar, and then rolled in yet more sugar before you eat it. It’s definitely a treat, not a healthy snack!

Close up of Turkish delight cubes on a plate with an orange flower

Can you store Turkish delight in the fridge?

Turkish delight hates temperature change. Plus, refrigeration draws moisture out of food which will only make it sweat more. I strongly advise you do not store your Turkish delight in the fridge.

Instead, store it in a cool place away from heat sources, like direct sunlight or radiators.

Someone coating Turkish delight in icing sugar

Ingredients and substitutions

Confused about what ingredients to buy? Not sure about a substitution? Here’s everything you might need to know before using this Turkish delight recipe…

Sugar – Only use regular caster sugar in Turkish delight (superfine in the US). If you use golden caster or brown sugar it will make it too dark, so you won’t get that delicate pink colour.
Lemon – Don’t used bottled lemon juice. If you’re going to the effort of making your own Turkish delight, do it justice with freshly squeezed lemon juice. It tastes much better.
Cornflour – Cornflour (cornstarch in the US) is an important ingredient, and used to thicken the mixture. Don’t substitute this for anything else.
Xanthan Gum – This helps to stabilise the mixture and prevent sweating after it’s made. You can leave it out, but you may run into problems later as a result.
Gelatine – Use gelatine powder as a non traditional cheat to set your Turkish delight quicker and easier.
Rose Water – The key flavour. It’s best not to substitute this if you can help it. Rose is the traditional Turkish delight flavour after all!
Food Colouring – Using red colouring is easiest to achieve a delicate pink finish. I recommend using gel, as it’s more concentrated and doesn’t affect the consistency as much as liquid colourings.
Icing Sugar – Also known as confectioners sugar, any brand will do here. Just be sure to sift it first to remove any lumps.

A work surface where someone has coated Turkish delight in icing sugar

Turkish delight recipe tips and troubleshooting

Here are some tips I think you’ll find helpful when making Turkish delight.

Always add water to corn flour and not the other way around. It mixes SO much easier!
Make your Turkish delight a slightly darker colour than you want the end product to appear. It lightens slightly once set.
Add your colouring a little at a time. You can always add more but you can’t take it out!
If your knife is sticking when slicing up the Turkish delight, you can coat it carefully in a little oil.
Store your Turkish delight in a metal container, as storing in plastic tubs can increase sweating.
Is your Turkish delight leaking water after setting? See how to stop Turkish delight sweating for help.
Don’t roll your finished Turkish delight in icing sugar for storage. This will cause it to sweat. Instead, store in corn flour and roll in icing sugar just before you eat it.

Turkish delight on a plate with a linen napkin on the side

Time management

Have limited time? Struggle with recipe timings? Or juggling around other things? Here’s some timing info to help make your life easier!

It will take you around 5 minutes to prepare your ingredients.
Cooking your Turkish delight will take approximately 30 minutes.
You then need to allow at least 20 minutes for your Turkish delight to cool after cooking.
To achieve a proper set, leave at room temperature overnight.
If you’re not eating all your Turkish delight straight away, you need to allow a further 24 hours to allow natural sweating. Followed by time to coat each piece in cornflour, and cure for a few hours before storage.

Homemade Turkish delight on an embossed white board with a linen napkin

If you like this recipe…

…you might also like:

Homemade Turkish Delight – Step by Step Picture Recipe

(For a printer friendly version, see the recipe card at the end of this post)

PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE SOME LONG WAIT TIMES IN THIS TURKISH DELIGHT RECIPE.

Read the recipe all the way through, before you begin, to ensure you have enough time.

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make 36 cubes.

500ml (2 Cups + 1 tbsp) Water, divided
375g (1 + 3/4 Cups + 2 tbsp) Caster Sugar
1 x Lemon, juice only
75g (1/2 Cup + 2 tbsp) Cornflour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
25g (3 tbsp) Gelatine Powder
2 tbsp Rose Water
Red Food Colouring
200g (1 + 1/2 Cup) Icing Sugar, for dusting

Essential equipment

Large Saucepan
Wooden Spoon
Jug
20cm (8″) Silicone Pan *

*if you don’t have a silicone pan, line a normal baking tin with baking paper and grease/coat in cornflour as per the recipe.

Instructions

First add 300ml (1 + 1/4 Cups) of the water, the sugar (375g | 1 + 3/4 Cups + 2 tbsp) and the lemon juice (of x 1 lemon) into your saucepan, and set it over a low heat. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved.

Sugar, lemon juice and water in a saucepan on the hob

Sugar, lemon juice and water in a saucepan on the hob just beginning to simmer

Now increase the heat a little, and bring it up to the boil. Meanwhile, add the cornflour (75g | 1/2 Cup + 2 tbsp) and xanthan gum (1/2 tsp) into a jug, then pour in the remaining 200ml (3/4 Cup + 1 tbsp) of water. Stir until the cornflour has dissolved.

Cornflour dissolved in water in a glass jug with a metal teaspoon

Sprinkle the gelatine powder (25g | 3 tbsp) over the top, then stir into the liquid.

Cornflour dissolved in water with gelatine sprinkled on top in a glass jug with a metal teaspoon

By now the sugar mixture should be boiling…

Sugar, lemon juice and water simmering in a saucepan on the hob

Next, pour the cornflour liquid into the pan, and stir continuously. Until the gelatine has dissolved.

Sugar, lemon juice, water, cornflour and gelatine in a saucepan on a hob

Sugar, lemon juice, water, cornflour and gelatine thickening in a saucepan on a hob

Now bring the mixture up to the boil, and simmer for around 20 minutes. Stir often, until it becomes very thick, glossy and wallpaper paste like.

Sugar, lemon juice, water, cornflour and gelatine boiling in a saucepan on a hob

Then remove from the heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes, stirring every now and then to release trapped heat.

Cooled Turkish delight in a saucepan on a kitchen worktop with a wooden spoon inside

Once cooled, add the rosewater (2 tbsp) and a little red food colouring at a time. Until you get a dark pink colour. This will lighten slightly once it’s set.

Turkish delight with added rosewater and red food colouring mixed together in a saucepan on a kitchen worktop with a wooden spoon inside

To prepare your pan, lightly oil the base and sides, then dust with cornflour, and tap out any excess. If you’re using a normal baking pan, line with baking paper first then oil and dust with cornflour.

Pour your Turkish delight into the prepared tin, and smooth out as best as you can. Leave to set overnight at room temperature.

Turkish delight in a dusted silicone pan set on a baking tray on a kitchen worktop

How to stop Turkish delight sweating

In the morning, remove it from the pan and slice into cubes. Space them out on a chopping board and leave to sweat at room temperature for 24 hours.

Turkish delight cut into cubes resting on a green chopping board

Sweating Turkish delight cut into cubes resting on a green chopping board

Now coat each cube in a layer of cornflour, and space apart on a baking tray. Leave at room temperature to cure. It will take at least a few hours and should form a dull crust around each cube.

Turkish delight cubes coated in cornflour on a baking tray

Turkish delight cubes on a baking tray with a cornflour crust on them

If, during this process, you notice any cubes still seeping water – simply roll them in more cornflour and leave to cure again until a crust forms.

Once all your cubes are completely covered in a cornflour crust, store in a lined metal tin exactly as they are. Make sure you space them apart too – if they are touching it can cause them to sweat again.

Turkish delight cubes coated in both cornflour and icing sugar set on a green chopping board

When you would like to eat some, simply roll in icing sugar and enjoy. Avoid rolling in icing sugar in advance as this will cause them to sweat again.

If you’ve followed each step to the letter, your homemade Turkish delight should last up to 1 week.

Someone coating Turkish delight in icing sugar over a linen napkin

How to store homemade Turkish delight

Storing homemade Turkish delight properly is very important. Keep it in a cool dry place. Not on the kitchen side, not in the fridge and definitely not anywhere near sunlight or radiators.

I’m thinking more like a pantry or a place that stays cool all year round, even when the heating gets switched on. (Yep, simply switching on the heating will make it sweat again!)

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A white plate filled with homemade Turkish delight set on the top of two old books with a light brown linen napkin at the side.