Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Peppermint Drops
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the finely grated loaf sugar with the egg whites.
Add 10 drops of oil of peppermint to the mixture.
Drop the mixture onto paper.
Allow the drops to dry completely.
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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + pepperminttop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,082 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + pepperminttop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together850 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Loaf sugar
- Provides the sweetness and the bulk that forms the drops.
- Egg whites
- Bind the sugar into a stiff mixture that sets as the drops dry.
- Oil of peppermint
- Gives the candy its minty flavour and aroma.
The step that matters
Allow the drops to dry completely. As moisture evaporates, the sugar and egg white harden into a firm candy. Drops that are not dried fully stay soft, sticky, and may not hold their shape.
Swap the peppermint
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerfits better
- Peppermintthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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