Why it works: Sugar and rose are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,584 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Rose Lozenges
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the paste
Soak the gum dragon in rose water.
Mix 1 ounce of gum dragon with 8 pounds of powdered sugar until it is not too stiff.
Color the mixture with vegetable carmine or cochineal.
If needed, add a drop of essence of roses for extra flavor.
Shape and dry
Roll out the paste on a clean marble slab to about 1/8 inch thick, dusting with powdered sugar or starch to prevent sticking.
Cut into desired shapes using a tin cutter.
Place the shapes on a sieve to dry in a warm oven.
Once dry, store in boxes for later use.
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.
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Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,584 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gum dragon
- Binds the powdered sugar into a pliable paste that holds its shape when rolled and cut.
- Powdered sugar
- Forms the bulk of the lozenge, providing sweetness and a firm, dry-setting body.
- Rose water
- Softens the gum dragon and adds the floral aroma of the lozenges.
- Vegetable carmine or cochineal
- Colors the paste red.
The step that matters
Mixing the gum dragon into the sugar. Gum dragon swells strongly in liquid and sugar sets stiffly, so the paste must be worked only until it is not too stiff. Overworked or overly stiff paste cracks when rolled and cut, while a soft paste may not hold its shape as it dries.
“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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