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
Make the paste
Soak the gum dragon in rose water.
Mix the soaked gum with powdered sugar until it forms a soft paste.
Color the paste with vegetable carmine or cochineal, and add essence of roses if needed.
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 with a tin cutter.
Place the shapes on a sieve to dry in a warm oven, then store in boxes.
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.
-
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
- Provides the sweet bulk of the lozenge and sets firm as the shapes dry.
- Rose water
- Hydrates the gum and adds the floral aroma that defines the lozenge.
- Vegetable carmine or cochineal
- Colors the paste a deep pink or red.
The step that matters
Adding the soaked gum to the sugar. The gum must be fully hydrated before mixing so the paste is smooth and even. Lumps of unhydrated gum stay stiff and make the paste hard to roll and cut cleanly.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.