Turkish and other Delights

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 951, 1 November 1957, Page 32

Turkish and other Delights

members of the family like to make simple sweets. But here is a letter from a Christchurch lady who is evidently not so young because she has forgotten how to make Turkish delight. She says: "Could you please print in The Listener at an early date a recipe for Turkish delight? It was a sweet that was much liked years ago. It contained, I think, sugar, water, gelatine and lemon juice. but in what proportions? It was cut up and rolled in icing sugar when set. Simple home-made sweets would be a welcome subject for one week." So here you are. Turkish Delight Four dessertspoons gelatine, 2 cups sugar (1 Ib.),.1 cup hot water, very small teaspoon citric acid, flavouring and colouring. Place gelatine, sugar, acid and water in pan and stir till dissolved. Boil 20 minutes. Do not stir after it boils. Remove from fire and allow to cool for 10 minutes, Divide the mixture, colouring one half? pink. Flavour. pink half with vanilla and the white half with almond or lemon. Grease 2 flat dishes and pour mixture in. Leave at least 24 hours. Cut into squares and roll in mixture of icing sugar and cornflour. Hints for Home-made Sweets Use a saucepan large enough for candy to boil without boiling over. For stirring and beating it is best to use a long-handled wooden spoon-they do not get hot. An electric beater is grand for those sweets which need beating after cooking. Fudge should be beaten until it loses its gloss and until a little dropped from a spoon holds its shape. Don’t scrape the saucepan too closely when turning your candy out into a plate. You may cause the whole to go sugary. Coconut Ice This is an old New Plymouth recipe: 4 cups sugar, 2 cups desiccated coconut, 1 cup milk. Boil milk and sugar over low heat for 5 minutes, add the coconut and boil for 3 minutes, stirring all the time. Take from heat and stand the pen in cold water while you beat until it begins to thicken. Pour on to buttered plates, Don’t beat too long or it will become hard. Coconut Ice (Uncooked) One pound sifted icing sugar, 1% Ib. desiccated coconut, 1 tablespoon milk, whipped white of egg. Knead all together, halve it, colour one half pink with cochineal. Roll both halves to about 12 inch thick. Put one on top of the other, allow to stand in warm place on paper dusted with icing sugar. Ready to cut in a few hours. Butterscotch . One and a half cups butter (or a little less), 1 cup molasses or golden syrup, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 42 teaspoon lemon essence, pinch of cream of tartar. Put all except essences into pot, stir till 290 deg., or until it will harden in cold water. Take off, add flavourings, put in buttered tins. When half cold, mark off, and when cold, break up. Bushman’s Butterscotch (Quick) Butter a frying pan and 2 large plates. Get pan hot and put in 4 cups of: sugar. Make a hole in centre, add 1 large tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of. . T holiday time the younger

vinegar. Stir till like honey and free from lumps and put in plates. Takes about 10 minutes.

Old English Butterscotch One pound best brown sugar (in England they use Demarara or crystallised), 4 oz. butter, 1 tablespoon water, 2 oz. cream, a good pinch of cream of tartar. Dissolve sugar in the water, bring to the boil, then add cream of tartar. Continue boiling for 30 minutes without stirring. Take off the fire and when it ceases to bubble, stir in cream and butter. Pour in buttered tins, mark in squares while warm, and when cold wrap in waxed paper. Store in airtight tins, Brown Betty Two cups.of brown sugar, 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 cup walnuts. Boil sugar, milk and butter for 20 minutes, stirring nearly all the time, Now add crushed walnuts and boil 5 minutes. Take off fire, beat till thick. Pour’ on buttered dish, mark off in squares, set aside till cold. Really delicious. Home-made Marshmallows Two level tablespoons gelatine, 2 cups Sugar, 1 teaspoon flavouring, 6 tablespoons cold water, 1 cup boiling water. Soak the gelatine in cold water. Boil sugar and boiling water until a_little dropped in cold water forms a stiff ball. Pour over gelatine. When cool beat for 15 minutes, add flavouring, pour into dish which has been lightly buttered and dusted with cornflour. When set cut into squares and roll in icing sugar. Russian Toffee One tin sweetened condensed milk, 1 lb. white sugar, 3 oz. butter, 2 oz. chopped nuts, 4% teaspoon flavouring essence (vanilla or as desired). Place all except the flavouring in a thick saucepan over moderate heat. Stir until dissolved. Boil for 15 minutes, taking care it does not burn. Remove from heat and add flavouring. Beat until creamy. Pour into buttered dish and mark into squares before it is quite cold. . Peanut Brittle Allow ¥2 pint roasted peanuts to 1 lb. sugar and 1% teaspoon baking powder (not phosphate). Melt the sugar over a géntle heat, stirring all the time. At boiling point add baking powder dissolved in a little warm water. When syrup is clear, put in suts (roughly chopped). Pour into a greased shallow tin. It should be very thin and crisp and is snapped into irregular pieces when set. Hokey Pokey (1) Three tablespoons water, 2. tablespoons golden syrup, 2. tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda. Boil all togethér except soda (same method as plain toffee), till it hardens in water. Then add the soda. Stir quickly. Pour into buttered dish. Hokey Pokey (2). Two breakfast cups sugar, 1 breakfast cup water, few drops vinegar. Stir over fire till sugar dissolves, then let

it boil quickly without stirring. When slightly brown take off fire and add % teaspoon baking soda. Put into buttered tins.

NEXT WEEK: Gooseberries