Mixology at Home - Turkish Delight

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - This drink is a real “Turkish Delight!”

I was first introduced to Turkish Delight, the candy, when I lived in Izmir back in the early 1980s. But it was decades later when I sipped my first Turkish Delight cocktail.

While there is a Turkish Delight liqueur, this drink doesn’t have that liqueur and this recipe didn’t originate in Turkey. It does, however, pay homage to the sweet treat.

Like almost any cocktail, there are a lot of recipes for this drink. Some recipes call for the candy Turkish Delight to be infused with vodka, and some use the candy as a garnish.

The Turkish Delight recipe I have doesn’t use the candy but why not add it as a garnish? Of course, getting your hands on some Turkish Delight can be a challenge. You might have to go online if you really want it. Outside of the candy, most home bartenders should be able to snag the ingredients.

Ingredients

2 oz vodka
1 oz white chocolate liqueur
2/3 oz Chambord (raspberry liqueur)
2 splashes of heavy cream
Drizzle of Grenadine
Strawberry syrup (optional, to rim the glass)
Crushed pistachio nuts (as a rimmer or sprinkled on top of the drink)
1 piece of Turkish Delight for garnish (also optional, depends on availability)

Directions:

Grind some pistachio nuts into a powder. Rim a martini glass with strawberry syrup (or Grenadine) and dip into the pistachio nuts.
In an ice-filled shaker, add vodka, white chocolate and raspberry liqueurs, and heavy cream. Shake and strain into a martini glass rimmed with pistachio nuts.
Instead of rimming the glass with pistachio nuts, you could sprinkle them on the top of the drink. Drizzle some Grenadine syrup down the inside of the glass.
Add a piece of Turkish Delight as garnish.

There is one recipe that uses rose vodka and white crème de cacao, shaken with ice and garnished with a piece of Turkish Delight. I have never tried rose vodka so it should be a “delightful” experience once I buy a bottle of rose vodka.

Turks use rose to flavor a lot of foods, not just Turkish Delight. Rose-flavored jam is a real treat on toast.

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