Dark Chocolate Turkish Delight Recipe

Easy homemade chocolate Turkish delight recipe. Sweet and soft rose candy coated in melted dark chocolate and topped with rose petals.

I didn’t grow up with rose candy but it wasn’t long after tasting Turkish Delight that I was hooked. It’s sweet, gelatinous, pretty to look at, and can be intensely floral. If you haven’t tried it yet yourself, the aroma of sugary summery roses is a flavour that might surprise you with its deliciousness. In my mind, there’s are few things that can beat it as candy but having the pieces coated in chocolate is one! A thin shell of deep flavoured dark chocolate paired with a sweet and gooey rose centre is hands-down my favourite treat.

Rose Candy made with quality Rose Water

The recipe below will make you enough Turkish Delight to offer at a girlie gathering, to give as a gift, and to indulge in yourself. When you make it, I highly recommend that you invest in a high quality rose water, to stick to the recipe provided, and to invest in a candy thermometer.

Simply boiling the ingredients for a certain amount of time could leave you with a dish of disappointment and you don’t want that. Hitting the ‘Soft Ball’ temperature is instrumental but otherwise, the recipe is easy to make and will have you delightfully (pun intended) bouncing around the kitchen that it worked. Making candy is almost magical!

Chocolate Turkish Delight Recipe

Makes about 40 pieces

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4 cups of white granulated Sugar
4-1/2 cups of Water
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1-1/4 cups Corn Starch
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
5 tsp High-Quality Rose Water
100g / 3.5 oz Dark Chocolate
1-10 drops of Red Food Colour*

Icing (Powdered) Sugar
A handful of Organic Rose Petals

Special kitchen tools:
Candy Thermometer

* If you’d like to try a natural food colour try using these ideas. You may need to use the entire bottle of the liquid colour to achieve the desired pink colour though:
Liquid Natural Red Decorating Color
Red Beet Powder or juice

Make the Turkish Delight

1. Put the sugar, 1-1/2 cups of water and the lemon juice in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir slowly and consistency until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer – but don’t stir it. Use the candy thermometer to test when it hits the soft-ball stage (that’s 240°F). When it hits that temperature, take the pan off the heat.
2. Place the cornstarch and cream of tartar in another saucepan and add about a Tablespoon of the remaining water. Whisk it together into a paste then add a little more of the remaining water at a time until it’s all mixed in. There should be no lumps — if there is, then pass the liquid through a sieve.
3. Heat the cornstarch-cream of tartar water to a boil, stirring constantly. After a few minutes, it will become thick and gloopy.
4. While the gloopy water is still on the heat, slowly pour the sugar-lemon syrup in, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer for an hour. Give it a stir every couple of minutes so that the mixture doesn’t stick and burn to the bottom of the pan. After an hour the mixture will be a light golden colour.
5. Stir in the rosewater and whichever colour you wish to use. The conventional way to colour Turkish Delight is with food colour but you can use beetroot powder or juice (may add some taste) raspberry juice, or carmine (not vegetarian).
6. Pour the candy into a 9″ square tray lined with plastic wrap or greaseproof paper. Use a spatula to spread it out to fit into each of the corners and be at a level height throughout.
7. Cool at room temperature overnight. The next day, mix the powdered sugar and remaining cornstarch together on a board. Turn the candy out on top and cut it into 1″ squares. Oiling your knife with a light oil such as sunflower oil will help it to not stick. Coat each piece in the powder — get every side.

Coat the Turkish Delight in Chocolate

1. Once made, cut the candy into bite-sized squares – mine were approximately 3/4 of an inch but choose larger or smaller depending on your preference. It’s also optional to roll the pieces in icing (powdered) sugar for any pieces you plan on dipping into chocolate.
2. Melt the entire 100g of chocolate in a Bain Marie. You can create a Bain Marie (aka Double Boiler) by placing a small saucepan into a larger saucepan that filled with boiling water. The boiling water heats the interior of the smaller saucepan more evenly and will stop the chocolate from burning while it melts.
3. Using a bamboo skewer, pick up a piece of the Turkish Delight and gently roll it in the warm, melted chocolate. When it’s completely coated, pick it out and place it on a screen or piece of baking parchment to cool and harden.
4. When the chocolate has cooled down but is not yet hard, lay a dried rose petal on top and allow the candy to then cool and harden completely. The rose petals edible but add that extra bit of styling that will delight the lucky recipient of these handmade treats.

Storage & Shelf Life

Once made, these chocolate coated mouthfuls of rosy goodness will keep at room temperature in a closed container for up to a month. I highly doubt they’ll last that long though. Any pieces that aren’t coated in chocolate can also be stored at room temperature for up to a month. Keep the pieces in a closed container and before serving to guests re-coat in icing (powdered) sugar if desired.