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Dessert

Peppermint Pastille Drops

A sweet confection made from water, sugar, and peppermint essence, formed into drops and dried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and peppermint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 29% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,082 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Peppermint Pastille Drops

Ingredients

Directions

Make the drops

  1. Mix water and sugar in a bowl until dissolved.

  2. Drop the mixture onto a sheet of stiff paper.

Dry and store

  1. Once firm, turn the paper upside down and brush the reverse side with water.

  2. Gently remove the drops with a knife onto a dry sieve.

  3. Move the sieve over a low heat to dry the drops.

  4. Store in well-stoppered glass jars in a dry place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + pepperminttop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Dissolves, then sets firm as it cools, giving the pastilles their solid, crystalline body.
Essence of peppermint
Adds the characteristic mint aroma and flavour throughout the drops.

The step that matters

Drying over low heat. Sugar softens and can melt or colour if overheated. Gentle warmth drives off surface moisture while the drops stay firm and clear, so they keep their shape and do not become sticky.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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