Sky Rockets in Flight: Afternoon Turkish Delight

Early on in the novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of the characters, Edmund, is enchanted and hypnotized by an unusual food: Turkish Delight. 

Now we know that everyone is entitled to their opinions and tastes, but we think Edmund could have done better. Truly, we've just never understood the appeal of the sticky confection known as Turkish Delight. Sure, it's got an interesting history--but in we've always found its texture kind of weird, and it's always seemed to have had a bit of an identity crisis (somewhere between candy, jelly, nougat and fruit roll-ups). However, when we recently came across a recipe for "Turkish Delight Frothy", a kind of nonalcoholic hot toddy featuring the confection, we have to admit we were intrigued, and so we gave it a try.

The recipe had a distinct Middle Eastern feel, what with rosewater, honey, pistachios, and cardamom. This got us all excited--we love Middle Eastern pastries which largely rely on said ingredients.  But would it be enough to make Turkish Delight haters into lovers?

The Turkish Delight Frothy definitely has its strong points. It's warm, spicy, sweet and comforting--like a chai tea latte. However, it's worth noting that rather than masking the flavor of the confectionery, the added ingredients actually managed to heighten it--which we imagine, if you're a fan of the stuff, would be--well, delightful. However, as we sipped we realized that maybe, secretly, brattily, we were hoping that the extra stuff might make frothy might taste like something other than its main ingredient. Le sigh. So while we'll likely stick with hot chocolate and chai as our hot beverages of choice, if you are a fan of Turkish Delight, this one might be worth a try.

Here's the recipe:

Turkish Delight Frothy
Serves: 2

• 2 cups milk
  
• 2 ounces Turkish delight, cut into small cubes, plus extra for garnish
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
  
• 2 teaspoons rose water
  
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
  
• Pinch ground cardamom
  
• 1 tablespoon unsalted pistachio nuts, finely chopped

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and Turkish delight. Heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture just reaches the boiling point. Remove from heat and set aside.
   
2. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer or whisk to beat the cream, rose water, honey and cardamom until just stiff.
   
3. Divide the milk mixture between 2 serving cups, then top with the whipped cream. Garnish with additional cubes of Turkish delight and the chopped pistachio nuts.
   
4. Serve it with a spoon for eating unmelted (and delicious) lumps of candy at the bottom.
   

-- Recipe from Louise Pickford's "Hot Drinks" (Ryland, Peters & Small), we found it via the Seattle PI.