Turkish delight is actually called Lokum in Turkish. Legend has it that a British traveler brought the sweet back home and named it after its place of origin and how delightful the sweet gummy treat was to eat. We have taken all the flavours of Turkish delight and made them into a celebratory Pavlova.
Many Ashkenazi Jews have the custom not to eat nuts on Rosh Hashanah, while Sephardim do not maintain this stringency. Feel free to omit the pistachios in this recipe.
- 4 egg whites
- 175g (¾ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ tablespoon rose water
- 100g (1 cup) green pistachios (optional), finely chopped
For coconut cream filling:
- 1 x 400g (14 ounces) tin (can) coconut cream
- 1 teaspoon rose water (optional)
- 1-2 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar (optional)
For assembly:
- 25g (¼ cup) green pistachios (optional)
- 1 tablespoon dried edible rose petals
- 2 tablespoons rose-flavored Turkish delight sweets, cut into quarters
- 2 tablespoon honey for drizzling
For the Pavlova base:
- Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Make sure all the equipment you are using is super clean. Heat oven to 150°C (300°F). Draw a 23cm (9 inch) circle on a piece of baking paper. Flip the paper over, so you can still see the circle but the ink will not bake into the meringue. Place the paper on a flat baking tray, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on medium, until soft peaks form. Raise the speed to high and very gradually add 1 tablespoon sugar at a time, beat until meringue holds very stiff peaks.
- Using a rubber spatula fold in the corn starch, followed by the rose water and half the chopped pistachios (if using).
- Scoop the meringue onto the baking sheet within the drawn circle, use the back of a large metal spoon to spread the meringue disk just to the inner edge of the circle. Make a slight depression in the center. Sprinkle remaining chopped pistachios (if using) over the meringue.
- Place the tray in the oven and reduce temperature to 120°C (250°F), bake for an hour. Turn off the oven and cool the pavlova in the oven for an hour. Remove from the oven.
Pavlova base can be made several days ahead and stored carefully wrapped in a cool dry place.
For coconut cream:
- Open up a tin (can) of coconut cream and carefully separate the solid white cream from the liquid. Discard any liquid.
- In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the coconut cream until just billowy.
- Fold in the sugar and rose water if using.
To assemble:
- Just before serving, place the pavlova base on a large plate, top with coconut cream, and sprinkle with pistachios, rose petals, Turkish Delight, and drizzle with honey.
- Serve immediately.
