Okay, so this post isn’t actually about Turkish Delight, but it does contain a delightful Turkish recipe, and it’s what real Turkish Delight would be if I ran the world.

This exotic dessert is another favorite dish of ours—a recipe from the Tailor’s friends in Istanbul. I crave it pretty much all the time, and come January I’ll start bugging the Tailor incessantly until he finally hauls out the scale and sugar. But since it’s fairly labor-intensive, and depends on the seasonality of the pumpkins we store in the attic, we usually only get to enjoy it a couple of times a year. Trust me, though, it’s well worth the effort, and is one of the most elegant, flavorful and visually appealing desserts I’ve ever tasted (just look at that gorgeous translucent pumpkin!). Try it next time you have a special occasion and you want an alternative to pumpkin pie (no disrespect to my favorite pie, of course!).

Candied Pumpkin

You’ll need: one small-to medium sugar pie pumpkin, one scale, and a whole lotta sugar.

Wash and peel your pumpkin (I’m not going to lie: peeling ain’t fun).

Cut it in half and remove the stem and innards.

Weigh the pumpkin; get as precise a measurement as you can, because this is important. Note: since our scale is metric, and since the original recipe is written in metric (those Turks!), we don’t bother to convert back. So all the measurements in this post are metric—if you need to convert to the English system, there are lots of online conversion calculators. And the ratios in this recipe are pretty straightforward, so conversion really won’t be difficult. A word of caution, though: double- and triple-check your converted measurements! If one of your proportions is wrong, you’ll have gone through a lot of work (and pumpkin) for a failed mess.

Now it’s time to make your algebra teacher proud—get out a pen and paper and write up a little proportion equation. You will need 750 g of sugar (we use that raw organic cane stuff) for every kilogram of pumpkin—that’s a 3:4 ratio (by weight, remember, not volume!), if you’re converting.

Slice each half of the pumpkin in half again, and then slice each quarter into strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide.

Place the pumpkin strips in a heavy-bottomed stock pot and pour your carefully-measured sugar over the pumpkin.

Cover and let sit overnight (or at least six hours). The sugar will draw the water out of the pumpkin and shrink the slices, resulting in smaller pumpkin pieces floating in syrup.

Over low heat, bring the sugar/pumpkin mixture to a simmer. Stirring gently every 15 minutes or so, cook the pumpkin for about 1.5 to 2 hours, or until all the pumpkin pieces are translucent—this finishes the candying process. The thicker the slices, the longer this will take.

Turn off the heat, and allow the candied pumpkin to cool to room temperature. Transfer to a covered refrigerator dish and chill. Serve in small portions, sprinkled with chopped pecans for a nice contrasting texture.

Candied pumpkin will keep in the refrigerator for at least ten days, but it doesn’t freeze well, so serve it fresh and enjoy it while it lasts! Try to refrain from sticking your face into the bowl to slurp up every last drop of syrup—but I’ll understand if you can’t.