October 30, 2011 - 10:52am
Turkish Delight
Everything tasted wonderful, but the hit, even though I usually don't like it very sweet, was the pastry - death by Baklava!
After being back home in Maine, I was (of course) eager to try my hand in baking my own Simit (the sweet pastries being not in my league). After studying a lot of different recipes, this is what I came up with:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/25707/simit-turkish-sesame-bread
Share
Comments
Wow, I really wish I was there.... What a fantastic display!
It all looks so good! Your version of Simit looks delicious! This post is making me hungry.
Marcus
That display was, indeed, stunning. You could really see how much love and pride in their produce went into the arrangement.
And my version of Simit tastes very good, it has a wonderful crunchy crust. Marcus, check it out - there's a link to the recipe below the photo.
Karin
Looks delicious Karin. You have some embedded links that all take me back to the image of the Simit.
Eric
Thanks, Eric. The link leads to the recipe (with photo). I wanted to post that separately from the story.
Karin
although a tiny bit disappointing in that I really love the Turkish Delight candy, and would like a recipe that pre dates corn syrup, because I'm sure it was made many years before that was available to Turkish people.
I once had some made without the corn syrup, and flavoured with rose water (traditional) it was a pale pink not the deep red the commercial stuff has turned into, and such a delicate delicious tasting candy, not too sweet either, not like the super sugar laden stuff these days. Just a delicate delicious taste.
But I will bear up under the disappointment and try the Bread when I can get to it! It looks wonderful.
Eva, I also remember having had wonderful Turkish Delight (called Turkish honey in Germany) als a child. I used to spend part of my allowance there, though I usually didn't care for very sweet stuff. Your comment inspired me to look into some Turkish German websites and I found this one:
TURKISH DELIGHT
Ingredients:
- 300g mild, not liquid honey (like acacia or clover honey)
- 3 egg whites (ca. 80 - 100 g)
- 10 g sugar (ca. 1 tbsp.)
- pinch of salt
- 300 g granulated sugar
- 250 ml water
- 20 g cocoa butter ( substitute: coconut fat )
- 150 g whole almonds, toasted and halved
- hazelnuts, toasted, to taste
- candied fruits, to taste
- pistachios, to taste
Preheat oven to 200 C/400 F. Place almonds on baking sheet, and toast for ca. 8 minutes.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a saucepan, bring honey to a boil. Set aside.
In a metal bowl, whisk together egg whites, 1 tbsp. sugar and salt, until soft peaks form.
In a second saucepan over medium heat, stir together sugar and water, and bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly (caution: it will be very hot), until reduced by half to a syrup (no crystal should form) und bei etwa 140 °C
Mix together honey and sugar syrup, until fully combined. Place bowl with egg white mixture over a bain marie and slowly add sugar/honey mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly.
Whisk mixture, until it sets and pulls away from sides of bowl. Add cocoa butter, candied fruit and nuts, stirring until incorporated. Transfer mixture to a greased sheet pan (here the recipe suggests putting a wooden frame on the sheet so that mixture is evenly distributed).
Let cool completely (best overnight). Cut with sharp knife into rhombes, stripes or cubes. Place candies in box with flour or shredded coconut, so that they don't stick together.
recipe translated from http://www.vaybee.de/service/tuerkischer-honig.php
Good luck!
Karin
This looks and sounds much more like what I used to get as a child. That was a real treat, my aunt brought it from the city she lived in, and it was a small box of delicious tasting yummyness.
The stuff she brought only had rose water flavouring, and probably a tiny drop of pink food colouring, but it was sooo good. My brother could remember it well (he was much older than me) and remembered some that he'd had that had pistachio nuts in. I never saw a pistachio until I was around 12 or so in the early 60's so would have remembered them in the candy! The last time I had the good stuff I think I was around 8, and my aunt commented that it would be the last she brought because the candy store went out of business or was in the process of doing so when she had gotten that box. Sad to say small shops were going out of business even 52 years ago!