Lokum

When I had my latest CouchSurfing guest over last month, a guy from Turkey, I asked him what do Turks bake traditionally that could be reproduced elsewhere in the world. Apparently, baking is not a big thing in Turkey but they do a lot of different stuff. Like Lokum which is also known as Turkish Delight to the western world. Similarly to muffins, lokum is a type of a dessert that can be made with different ingredients.

I've had Turkish Delight before and I was never too crazy about it (though I made cupcakes from it once and those were great), it just tasted too... artificial to me. I was surprised how mine turned out. The artificial "too sweet" flavour was nowhere to be found and although the rose water flavour was a bit strong (I halved it for the final recipe), my Lokum was delicious and perfectly fitted my idea of a non-traditional Christmas cookie. And while not technically being baked, I was willing to make an exception and publish it here because, in the end, I was quite proud of what I was able to make. :)

The process wasn't without hitches, however. Following a recipe I found, my Lokum was cooked in half the time described in the recipe. Also it let off a lot of water overnight in the fridge (about two spoons of sweet water) - perhaps I should have let it dry outside. Also the final result was quite fragile and one or two cuts just fell apart (not that bad considering there was about 30 that were fine). I decided to make another Lokum soon, perhaps soon enough for the New Year's but this time with a different flavour and letting it dry outside.

Glue with nuts

Lokum
for about 35 thumb-sized cuts you will need:

• 500g white sugar
• 100g cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of rose water
• 150g nuts mix - pistachio, walnuts, hazelnuts
• water
• ~200g shredded coconut

1. Take a small (20x30cm) pan, lay it with baking sheet and butter it.
2. Melt the sugar with about 175ml water and lemon juice in a pot over low heat. Once it is done, bring to boil and turn down the heat to low again and let it simmer as it thickens into a syrupy substance. Then remove from heat
3. In a larger pot whisk the cornstarch in about 375ml of cold water so that there are no clumps. On medium heat, whisk or stir until it becomes all sticky and glue-like. Add in the sugar water and stir to combine.
4. Leave it on low heat and chop the nuts into smaller bits. Add them into the milky substance along with a spoon of rose water and whisk (or stir) to combine well. Stir occasionally while leaving it to simmer. After 30 to 60 minutes, the substance turns transparent, thick and quite difficult to stir. Transfer it to the pan, spreading it equally with a spatula and let cool down completely and rest overnight. 
5. Next day, prepare a surface sprinkled with shredded coconut and revert the lokum on it. Cut into smallish cubes (thumb-sized) and carefully cover all sides with the coconut. If you feel your lokum is still a bit wet, leave to dry some more and then store in a box, layers separated by a baking sheet (just in case so it doesn't stick to each other).

I covered the top with coconut before cutting it for easier handling