How did my Turkish Delights/lokum end up tasting like orange?
I made lokum, or Turkish Delights yesterday. I used the more traditional ingredients - cornstach, cream of tartar, sugar. From what I've researched of the dish, you can have flavors of lokum different than the traditional one (rosewater), usually using some form of flavor extract. But, I didn't have any extracts laying around my house.
So, instead... I used coffee. I figured it would probably end up tasting lightly of coffee, given all the sweeteners. But, instead, it ended up tasting... acidic, citrus-like. It tastes like candied orange peel. I figure I must have done something wrong, but I don't understand how I got to this flavor. Should I have used espresso? Stronger coffee? The grounds? A coffee extract?
Here are the ingredients:
4 cups sugar
4 1/2 cups water
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp medium roast coffee, liquid
Red + green food coloring
1:1 powdered sugar & cornstarch coating
Best Answer
I strongly suspect that your food coloring may have had something to do with it if you were using liquid food coloring as these often have flavors you wouldn't expect. That plus the acidity from the coffee (yes, coffee is acidic) and the cream of tartar (powdered acid) could simulate an orange flavor.
Gel colorings are much better as they give much more color without flavors, I'd suggest those in the future, just remember a very little bit goes a long way.
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What is Turkish Delight supposed to taste like?
What does a Turkish delight taste like? Turkish delights are made with a wide variety of different flavors. Some of the most common are rosewater, which has a light rose flavor, and orange flower water, which has a bright, citrusy flavor.Does lokum expire?
A perfect Turkish delight should whet your appetite, not kill it. While eating, it shouldn't burn your throat with its sugar. Freshness is key. Turkish Delight should last 8 to 10 months.How does lokum taste like?
Here's what it really is: a starch and sugar gel often containing fruit or nuts and flavored with rosewater, citrus, resin, or mint. The texture is gummy and sticky, some of the flavors are unfamiliar to American palates, and the whole thing is very, very sweet.What does cream of tartar do in Turkish Delight?
Most recipes for Turkish delight use cream of tartar, many insisting that it's very important for the recipe. My conclusion, after some investigation, is that the cream of tartar is only being used to acidulate the mixture. The sugar syrup you make at the beginning is also known as invert sugar.Orange Turkish Delight | Orange Lokum | No Artificial Colour | No Gelatin | No Agar Agar
More answers regarding how did my Turkish Delights/lokum end up tasting like orange?
Answer 2
It may be the type of coffee (probably is the coffee) or the amount of tartar (gives that taste your talking about if too much is added), though many Turkish delights have lemon or orange zest, juice or flavoring in addition so the taste of orange isn't a bad thing.
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Images: Andrea Piacquadio, Ketut Subiyanto, William Fortunato, Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto