Turkish Delight…

I have, unsuccessfully, followed two different recipes in the past two days. Both failures. They are, respectively:

Wikipedia, flavored with lime juice. Even though I left the heat pretty low, the post-cornstarch goo was REALLY sticky, and began to caramelize because I wasn't able to stir it well-enough. I have a plate of lime-flavored gunk in the fridge, but it's going to end up in the rubbish this afternoon.

gourmet magazine / epicurious, pistachio and rosewater. Tasted... frankly ... bad. Like gelatin. The rose-water didn't add as much flavor as I'd hoped, and it had a certain plasticky aftertaste.

Provide me with help? Tips? Recipes? I would prefer to make one without gelatin. I'm not so much looking for flavoring suggestions as easily-adaptable techniques.

Making candy takes pretty much constant attention - the cooking sugar mixture can go from innocuous syrup to solid carbonized yuck far too quickly. I'd say stick with the Wiki recipe and make liberal use of vegetable oil (spray or not) and/or use a silicone spatula for stirring.

And now, I've got TMBG Istanbul (Not Constantinople) stuck in my head.

Turkish delight, on a moonlit night...

I don't have a double-boiler, but do you think that a pot resting on a vegetable steamer in a larger pot filled with water might give me a little more control? Or would it just make the cooking take infinity-long?

Also: rosewater & honey & club soda & lime = excellent.

(also, FWIW, the problem wasn't totally my inattention but my inability to stir the superthick goo, even WITH a silicon spatula and a wooden spoon. think: oobleck, gak)

If I'm melting chocolate or need more controlled heat, I use a metal bowl over a pan of boiling water with a dishtowel around the lip of the pan (to keep the metal of the bowl off it) - that might help, but it sounds like it might have gone way past the firm ball stage if it got that thick. Do you have a candy thermometer or were you using the ice water test?

Candy thermometer that I know to be reliable. I wasn't near temperature.

I wonder if I added the cornstarch too quickly / mismeasured?

You could try cooking the sugar syrup down to thread stage (230 deg F) first, taking the mix off the heat, slowly stirring in the cornstarch mixture, then returning to the heat to cook to firm ball.

Will try. At least ingredients are cheap!

I wonder if it matters if the cornstarch is sifted or not - the recipe doesn't say. You might try shorting the 1/2 cup by a tablespoon or so.

Looking at a few more recipes on the web, I'd say you might want to reduce the amount of cornstarch, even down to 1/4 cup.

I've got two batches (pistachio-lime & coconut-lemon) setting in the fridge. Neither of them are perfect, but, the modest success I acheived was by

1) Using .25c cornstarch (vs. .5)
2) Using a heavy & thick-bottomed pan
3) cooking the sugar syrup down to thread stage (230 deg F) first, taking the mix off the heat, slowly stirring in the cornstarch mixture, then returning to the heat to cook to firm ball.

i have recently made a batch of turkish for the first time. everything was going well and i put it in the fridge to set. however when i took it out i had to dry it off and then put the icing sugar on. when i looked at it a few hours later more moisture had come out of it and the sugar had disappeared. where did i go wrong?

Let it cool at room temperature, not in the fridge.

Here is a recipe I used that does not have gelatin:
Ingredients
4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups cornstarch
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons rosewater (or other flavoring)
1 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
Vegetable oil or shortening

In a 9 inch baking pan, grease the sides and bpttom with vegetable oil or shortening. Line with wax paper and grease the wax paper.
In a saucepan, combine lemon juice, sugar and 1 1/2 cups of water on medium heat. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves. Allow mixture to boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and set aside.
Combine cream of tartar, 1 cup cornstarch and remaining water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until all lumps are gone and the mixture begins to boil. Stop stirring when the mixture has a glue like consistency. Stir in the lemon jucie/water/sugar mixture. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Reduce to low and allow to simmer for 1 hour, stirring frequently.
Once the mixture has become a golden color, stir in rosewater. Pour mixture into wax paper lined pan. Spread evenly and allow to cool overnight.
Once it has cooled overnight, sift together confectioner's sugar and remaining cornstarch. Turn over baking pan containing Turkish Delight onto a clean counter or table and cut with an oiled knife into one inch pieces. Coat with confectioner's sugar mixture. Serve or store in an airtight container in layers separated with wax or parchment paper.
----------------------------
The first half of the recipe went perfectly, even though I didn't have a candy thermometer (I used the "cold water" method). The second part I didn't quite get right: the mixture never boiled, before I knew it the cornstarch mixture turned into a thick paste like glob - almost rubbery. When I combined the two mixtures together the white one didn't want to stir in very easily with the sugar mixture and when I finally got them mixed together, the mix was gelatinous-lumpy...I went ahead with the process and let it sit overnight and in the morning I was glad to see that it was nice and stable, firm, but still soft, it could hold it's shape nicely. I tried covering it in powdered sugar, but it would weep and get the powdered sugar and cornstarch all sticky and glazy. I think the solution to the problem might be to go ahead and combine the two mixtures together when the cream of tartar/cornstarch mix is still in its fairly liqid stage.

I tried a recipe that used gelatine and it turned out awful, it wouldn't hold its shape. So I consider this recipe a great improvement..just a kink or two to work out.
I hope this helps and I am sorry if this is really long...I bought some Turkish Delight when I was in London at Harrod's and it was great, I am so in love with it now, but its not popular in the states so I have to make my own!