Pişmaniye

Method

1. Melt 20 g of unsalted butter in a small heavy pan over the lowest heat. Stir in 30 g of plain flour and roast it for 20-25 minutes, stirring almost constantly with a wooden spoon, until the paste loosens into a sandy, pourable meal the colour of pale honey and smells strongly nutty. Scrape it into a wide bowl or tray and keep it somewhere warm — it must stay loose and warm to work.
2. Brush a marble slab or a steel baking tray with 1 tsp of sunflower oil and set it beside the hob. Put 150 g of caster sugar, 50 ml of water and 0.5 tsp of lemon juice into a small saucepan, stir once over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring, brush down the sides with a wet pastry brush and boil hard for 8-10 minutes to 150C on a sugar thermometer (hard crack: a drop in cold water snaps cleanly).
3. Pour the syrup straight onto the oiled surface and leave it 4-5 minutes, folding the cooling edges into the centre with an oiled scraper, until it holds a thumbprint and is just cool enough to handle with lightly oiled hands.