Turkish Delight - A great holiday treat given a kick with POMegranate Juice and Arils

I remember when I first heard about pomegranates. I was probably about 11 or 12 and had just read about it in some book (which I can't remember) and the main character was describing what a pomegranate looked like and how it tasted.
The little edible ruby colored jewels (the arils) and how they shone when the light hit them, the fact that they taste sweet yet a bit tangy. And just from the short description, I remember how much I wanted to try one.

I, of course, got my hands on one and pried it open to find the yellow tinted white pulp that held those little gems inside I remember how it took me over an hour to eat half of the fruit. I loved it! They were so different than the usual fruit I had had at that young age that I think they became one of my favorite fruits. The thing is when I was younger, pomegranates weren't as readily available as they are now. It was not only expensive but it was also not around very often.

So when I was contacted by a representative from POM Wonderful about their juice, I of course jumped at the chance of a free sample. They asked if I could either try to come up with a recipe of my own using their pomegranate juice or choose from among their recipes they have on their site to feature in one of my posts. I of course chose to do my own recipe. The question was, what would I make?

Since it's close to the holidays, I thought about doing something a little more in the spirit. To me, holiday food is usually one of two things (sometimes both), either a sweet treat or something hearty. I decided to go with a sweet treat. Turkish delight has been one of my favorite holiday sweets since I was young and my mother would bring them home around the holidays from her wonderful and appreciative clients and friends.

I had also done a little bit of reading on pomegranates before I decided to do Turkish delight and had found that pomegranates originated around the area known as Transcaucasia (made up of a few Middle Eastern/Eurasian countries) that Turkey happened to be a part of and there have been remains of pomegranates dating back to 1000BC.

This to me meant that pomegranates were destined to be made into Turkish delight!

Turkish POM Delight

2 cups Sugar

2 1/4 cup Water

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

1/2 cup Corn Starch

2 tablespoons Pomegranate Juice

1/4 cup Pomegranate Seeds

1/2 tsp White Vinegar

Put the sugar,  3/4 cups water, and lemon juice into a pan on a medium low heat and allow to come to a boil. If you have a thermometer, it should get to 115C or 239F. It will be a thick syrup consistancy and may have a very light brown/honey hue to it.

While the sugar syrup is coming to a boil/boiling, combine vinegar, cornstarch, and 1 1/2 cups cold water in another container and mix well. Add to another pan and simmer, making sure to stir the entire time (I suggest using a whisk). Keep stirring until the mixture becomes a thick, paste like, white substance. At this point pour your sugar syrup into the cornstarch paste, and continue to stir 'till well combined.

Let the sugar cornstarch mixture simmer, making sure to stir every few minutes, until it becomes a golden honey color and/or reaches 120C/248F. I read it should take about an hour but because my sugar syrup never hit the 115C mark and was already a little honey colored already, it only took about 10 minutes.

Get a flat, square or rectangular dish out and line it with plastic wrap. Oil the plastic wrap so the mixture will not stick to it as it cools.

When the cornstarch sugar mixture is done cooking add in your pomegranate juice and mix it in. After the juice is well incorporated add in your arils. The easiest way to free the arils from the pulp is to put it in a sink/bowl full of water. As you pull the arils apart the pulp will rise to the surface and the seeds will sink to the bottom.

Pour this mixture into the prepared plastic wrap dish and smooth it out. Cover and let cool in the refrigerator a few hours or over night. When set take out and slice into bite sized pieces. In order to keep the powdered sugar from sweating off, let the Turkish Delight "age" a bit by leaving it out of the fridge to dry for a few(at the very least 3) days before rolling in a mix of half powdered sugar, half cornstarch. This will also give it a more chewy texture.

Though I couldn't help myself and wound up eating some before they had a more chewy texture to them, they were still good (neither could the hubby or the little one!). I know that these little delights aren't usually a very healthy treat but at least you can rest easy knowing that the pomegranate and the juice are full of anti-oxidants, making you feel a little less guilty while you indulge!