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 ↓
Sugar Mints
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine 6 lbs of sugar and 1 qt of water in a large pot.
Cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches 234°F to 235°F.
Remove from heat.
Flavor and shape the mints
Pour about 1 lb of syrup into a dipper.
Add a little additional sugar and peppermint extract to the syrup in the dipper. Stir until it becomes cloudy.
Using a funnel, drop the mixture onto sheets of tin or wax paper.
Repeat the process until all the syrup is used up, making some mints white and others pink.
Flavor the pink mints with wintergreen extract.
Use a 3 or 4-nose copper pan to drop the mints.
Cut them off with a wire.
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 + pepperminttop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Forms the body of the mint and sets firm as the syrup cools and crystallizes.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be cooked into a syrup without burning.
- Peppermint extract
- Provides the main aroma and flavor of the white mints.
- Wintergreen extract
- Adds a sharp, distinct flavor to the pink mints.
The step that matters
Cook the syrup to 234°F to 235°F. Sugar syrup must reach the right temperature to set into a firm mint. Too little cooking leaves the mints soft and sticky, while too much makes them hard and brittle.
“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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