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Dessert

Peppermint Lozenges

A peppermint-flavored sugar confection made by dissolving isinglass and gum arabic in boiling water, then mixing with sugar and peppermint oil.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 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 Lozenges

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gel

  1. Dissolve isinglass and gum arabic in boiling water.

  2. Let the mixture cool.

Make the lozenges

  1. Grate the loaf sugar.

  2. Sift the grated sugar through a fine sieve.

  3. Add the oil of peppermint to the sugar mixture.

  4. Mix until stiff.

  5. Spread part of the sugar on a marble surface.

  6. Roll the sugar thin.

  7. Cut the rolled sugar into lozenge shapes using a tin mold.

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

Isinglass
Forms a gel that binds the sugar into a firm, workable paste.
Gum arabic
Adds binding and smoothness, helping the lozenges hold their shape.
Loaf sugar
Provides the sweet bulk of the lozenges and sets firm as it dries.

The step that matters

Mix until stiff. The sugar must reach a firm, stiff paste before rolling. If it stays too wet, the lozenges will not hold their shape when cut.

“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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