This candied pumpkin is a traditional Turkish dessert that needs a little patience to make. You need 4 ingredients, plus slaked lime to make this sweet and crispy pumpkin treat. The BEST sweet made with pumpkin ever!
The most popular pumpkin recipe in Turkey is baked sweet pumpkin, but there is another dessert recipe made with pumpkin which is less known: Pumpkin Candies. These are probably quite different from what you know as candy. These are wonderfully crispy thanks to slaked lime. You might not be familiar with the usage of slaked lime. In Turkey, it is mostly used in jam making to give the fruit that crispiness. We don't put it in the jam, no. It is used only in the preparation step.
I was tidying the files on my computer this morning and found the photos of this pumpkin candies. I remember taking its pictures a few years ago when we bought it from a new dessert restaurant we discovered in Eskisehir. It is a special restaurant serving desserts of Antakya, Hatay (a city located on the South of Turkey). Antakya, which was first called Antiocheia in 300 BC , has a very large cuisine with several unique and scrumptious dishes. This pumpkin dessert is one of these unique dishes. It is the only pumpkin dessert served in Antakya, so when you order pumpkin dessert in a restaurant there, they bring this one. The pumpkin dessert I wrote about before here is the common one around the country, but it is not made in Antakya. They have this special candy like pumpkin dessert instead. Also, there are street vendors selling this pumpkin dessert in Antakya, and people can buy just one slice and eat it walking.
This pumpkin dessert is originally made from white pumpkin which is grown in Antakya. However, it can also be made with regular pumpkin if you can not find white pumpkin. It is not soft and it has rather a crispy texture unlike the common pumpkin dessert. What makes it crispy is slaked lime in its recipe. Lime is something that is commonly used in making jams of certain fruit or vegetables like eggplant or watermelon. You will read how it is used in the recipe card below.
More Sweet Recipes With Pumpkin
More Turkish Desserts
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PrintPumpkin Dessert Candy Version
A crispy dessert made with pumpkin.
- Prep Time: 15 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 16 hours
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 1 kilo pumpkin, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1 kilo sugar
- 200 ml water
- ½ lemon
- To prepare pumpkin:
- 500g slaked lime
- 10 liter water
Instructions
- Mix water and lime. Wait it 7 or 8 hours. Lime will sink and you will use the water on its surface. Pour this water on pumpkin slices and wait it about 7 hours.
- Then wash them well. Wait them in clean water about 1 hour.
- Put them in a large pot, pout sugar and 200ml water on them.
- Cook about 1 hour until it has right consistency and pumpkin slices get golden.
- Add a few lemon drops and cook a few minutes more.
- Let it cold. Don’t put it in refrigerator.
- Serve it as it is, it doesn’t need any topping, you just grab one slice and eat it.
Notes
Waiting duration is included in the Prep Time.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 413
- Sugar: 102.6 g
- Sodium: 2.8 mg
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 106.5 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: turkish pumpkin, candied pumpkin
Mel says
Hello, I had these pumpkins candy when I was a little girl when l lived in Thailand. I still remember the taste and texture and yearned to have them once more. I found your recipe but I am not sure what temperature you have had recommended to cook the pumpkins in? And where can I get the slacked lime. Thanks in advance.
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Mel,
We had no idea this pumpkin dessert is made in Thailand too. There is no exact temperature, just cook the pumpkin slices over medium low heat until the water in the pot slightly thickens. It will still be runny but with a consistency.
As for the slaked lime, in Turkey, it is sold in the stores which sell construction items. You could check out that type of stores in your area or try online shops.
Hope these help.
Honey says
Hi Zerrin,
While checking the internet for the slaked lime used in your receipt I came across the following website:
It is posting the exact photo and recipe as a “Japanese Dessert”. The recipe was published on 10 December 2015 in the Arabic language and posted by Dr. Maysoon Al-Bayati a famous Iraqi journalist and broadcaster as written on the website.However you published your recipe first in 2011 then modified it in 2019.
So I thought of sharing it with you.
Best,
Hanzadah
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Hanzadah,
Thank you for this comment. We had to remove the link for that website from your comment not to give them a credit on our blog.
Unfortunately, there are several of that kind of websites stealing pictures and recipes from blogs like ours. We will definitely make a complaint.
Thanks again for the heads up!
Cheers!
Honey says
Hello Zerrin & Yusuf,
Thank for acknowledging my message and its’s ok for removing the link I just wanted you to know it!
Good luck and have a good day….
Best,
★★★★★
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Honey,
Thanks again for letting us know.
Cheers!
Thomas Gonzalez says
Fascinating that this is a food from Turkey. I have to assume that it was borrowed from Mexico since they have the same treat and pumpkins & squashes are from that part of the world. It's a switch from Mexico having "Al Pastor" which would be a copy of Shawarma. 🙂
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Wow! Had no idea that there is a similar treat in Mexico. It is known in a small part of Turkey, in the south, called Antakya/Hatay. Not even known all around the country. Have to check a Mexican recipe to see how similar they are. Thank you for the info!
Tara says
This is such a unique dessert! Followed the recipe and OMG! It turned out sooooo good! Can't wait to make another batch!
★★★★★
Hadar says
Hi
I'm very impressed with the recipe and cant wait to try it
I've been waiting to make it for a few years...
I do have one question.
Is slaked lime the same as limestone?
Thank you very much
Yusuf says
Hi Hadar,
Welcome to our blog! Hope you like our recipes as much as we do.
As for your question, honestly we use only slaked lime in jams or desserts like this. Only in the preparation process, we don't use it in the jam, so we don't eat it. Not sure what limestone is used for, so I don't want to mislead you. If it is used for the same purpose, you can use it.
Dulcy says
These look delicious. How long do they keep if you can resist eating them straight away? I was thinking of making them in autumn when the pumpkins are fresh and giving them to friends and family for Christmas.
Yusuf says
Thank you Dulcy! What a great idea to make Christmas gifts from these! It keeps for months in a dry place.