A Turkish Delight Cake Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia

Posted on by CourtneeRedeaux
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Why Turkish Delight

As you guys know, I like to keep my recipe backstories short and sweet so here we go. I’m sure like a lot of Americans, my first exposure to Turkish Delight was from the book and movie series The Chronicles of Narnia. I read the book during a summer program I attended around 10 or 11 years old. After we read the book ( and watched the movie) we did research on the history of Turkish Delight! The instructor brought in pre-made Turkish Delight to try while we attempted to make our own.

Now, I’m not sure if Edmund and ten-year-old me just had advanced pallets for children or what, but I was one of very few in the class to like the Turkish Delight. And I’ve been eating it ever since. When I got into baking, it felt like a natural progression to develop a recipe based on one of my favorite treats. My favorite flavor, and probably one of the most traditional, is rosewater or rosewater with pistachios. It’s a beautiful balance between the nuttiness and the floral flavors. So here we are!! As usual, make sure to read through the recipe before attempting!

Pistachio Cake Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 C of all-purpose flour
  • 2 C of granulated white sugar
  • 1 C( 2 sticks) of unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 2 1/2 tsp of baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • 4 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 C of milk
  • 4 tsp of pistachio extract – 
  • 1/2 C of chopped pistachios (set aside)
  • Leaf green icing color-I used Wilton brand(optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven and prepare your pan. I personally used a floured loaf pan with a parchment paper lining.
  2. In a separate bowl from your mixing bowl, combine your sifted flour, baking powder, and salt
  3. Next, combine your butter and sugar in your mixing bowl, and mix them until they are well incorporated and fluffy.
  4. Add in your eggs, two at a time, mixing just until they are incorporated. Don’t overmix.
  5. Next, add in your pistachio extract and coloring. I personally dip the tip of a toothpick into the color and then into the batter and mix. It doesn’t take much coloring at all so place it sparingly, adding a little at a time. Remember to take into consideration that the color will get slightly darker when it’s cooked when deciding on the color you’d like
  6. Mix in dry ingredients and milk in 3 to 4 parts. Add in about a fourth of the dry ingredients to begin and then alternate dry ingredients and milk, adding the next ingredient when the last is fully mixed in.
  7. Lastly, fill your pan about halfway with the batter, remembering the cake will rise.
  8. Bake at 325 for about 35-45 mins, checking with a toothpick or dowel to make sure it’s cooked all the way through. The crust should have a slightly browned look to it.
  9. When the cake was cooled and ready to decorate, I cut it in half and layered my buttercream and chopped pistachios in the middle!

Rosewater Italian Meringue Buttercream Recipe

This Rosewater Italian meringue buttercream is the silkiest most subtly flavored buttercream I’ve ever come across and I love it. But please be warned, it will take some effort. You can absolutely adapt an easier buttercream if you’d like! I think this cake can handle it. I just personally wanted an extra-light and fluffy product.

Pro Tip: Wipe the inside of your bowl with vinegar before use to make sure there is no oil or fat residue. Also, make sure the bowl is completely dry.

This recipe is adapted from Yolanda’s Italian Meringue Buttercream from ‘How to Cake It’. I tried a few of these and found this one to be the easiest to follow. You can find it here if you’d like to follow her instructions.

ButterCream Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 C  Granulated Sugar
  • 1/2 C Water
  • 8 large egg whites, at room temperature
  • 2 C (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 4.5 tsp-1 tablespoon rosewater (I use the Cortas brand)
  • red( no taste) Wilton icing color 
  • food thermometer

Pro Tip: You can check your butter temp before use to make sure it’s at least room temperature. This will decrease the likelihood of your buttercream deflating when you begin to add the butter.

Instructions

  1. Gather your ingredients, a small pot, and your mixing bowl and mixer(a stand mixer works best).
  2. Wipe down your mixing bowl and mixing tool with a light coat of vinegar to remove any excess fats or oils.
  3. In a small pot, combine your water and sugar and grab your thermometer. Over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the water and bring it to a boil.
  4. While the water and sugar are coming to a boil, place your egg whites in the mixing bowl.
  5. Next, head back to your sugar mixture/syrup and monitor the temperature. When it reaches 230F, start mixing your egg whites at a medium-high speed. Aiming for stiff peaks by the time your sugar reaches 240F.
  6. When the syrup finally hits 240F, grab the pot off the stove, and bring it over to your eggs which should still be mixing.
  7. Slowly begin to pour the syrup into the egg whites. You want to avoid hitting the side of the bowl as your syrup will stick to it. You also want a fairly thin stream, which is best achieved by adding more height between the pot and the bowl but do this carefully as the syrup is hot.
  8. Once you’ve poured all of the syrup, turn your mixer to high. Now, you’re going to allow the mixture to whip for a while, waiting for it to be both thick and glossy and for the bowl to cool back down completely while mixing the entire time. This is the most important part. You do not want your meringue and butter to have a huge temperature disparity so you may have to let the bowl cool for a long time, it took mine nearly 15 minutes to feel like it was nearly back to room temperature.
  9. Next, add in your butter pieces, one at a time. I used my butter knife to grab a piece and drop it between the mixer and the side of the bowl.
  10. Whip until each piece is completely mixed in before adding the next piece. Do not be alarmed if your mixture beings to deflate. Continue to add the butter slowly and mix. Once you’ve added in about half of your butter you should see it begin to come back to life.
  11. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  12. Once all the butter has been added beat for another 5-7 minutes, you’re looking for a thick and smooth consistency. This is when you can add in your vanilla and rosewater.
  13. Lastly, you can dip a toothpick into your icing coloring and put a tiny bit into the frosting. Mixing and slowly adding tiny bits until you reach the color you’d like. It took me only one tiny dip into my frosting.

Decorative Toppings Pictured

I layered my cake with a layer of buttercream and then chopped pistachio. I also added more buttercream to the top layer. In addition, I placed a few edible decorations to finish it off. I used the decorations listed below, but obviously, this is your time to flex your creativity and decorate it however you want!

  • Bark (melted White Chocolate or White Candy Melts topped with crushed and whole culinary-grade rose buds and crushed and whole pistachios)
  • Rosewater Turkish Delight
  • Chopped Pistachios
  • Chopped dried rosebuds(culinary-grade)

As usual, I really hope you enjoy making this recipe and reach out to let me know how it goes! I’m on Instagram and Pinterest, or you can email me or comment below!

C
CourtneeRedeaux
Comments (2)
books cake recipe good eats nerd corner pistachio rose rosewater the chronicles of Narnia the lion the witch and the wardrobe Turkish delight

2 Replies to “A Turkish Delight Cake Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia”

  1. Mary says: Reply
    February 25, 2021 at 17:57

    I didn’t get to try Turkish d3light til I was pretty “grown up” and it was alright. Not the feast I’d imagined as a kid 😂 But this cake looks AMAZING!

    1. CourtneeRedeaux says: Reply
      March 4, 2021 at 13:12

      Thank you !
      That’s the impression I’m getting from a few people! I guess I got lucky that it lived up to my expectations. LOL

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