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Dessert

Lemon and Peppermint Drops

A candy made by dropping a stiff sugar paste flavored with lemon or peppermint onto tins or paper to dry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Lemon and Peppermint Drops

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Take a convenient quantity of dry granulated sugar and place it in a saucepan with a lip for pouring or dropping.

  2. Add a very little water, just enough to make a stiff paste; two ounces of water to a pound of sugar is about the right proportion.

  3. Set the saucepan over the fire and allow the mixture to nearly boil, keeping it continually stirred.

  4. Remove the saucepan from the fire as soon as bubbles begin to rise, indicating the boiling point has been reached.

Flavour and drop

  1. Allow the syrup to cool a little while stirring; add a strong essence of peppermint or lemon to suit the taste.

  2. Tilt the vessel slightly to drop the syrup onto tins or sheets of smooth white paper.

  3. Use a small piece of stiff wire to stroke the drops onto the tins or paper.

Dry

  1. Keep the drops in a warm place for a few hours to dry.

  2. (Optional) In fruit season, substitute fresh fruit juice or essences for the peppermint or lemon.

By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed. 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. See the original page.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Forms the sweet, hard candy structure as the syrup cools and sets.
Water
Dissolves the sugar so it can be heated evenly into a syrup without scorching.
Peppermint or lemon essence (in the method)
Gives the drops their characteristic aroma and flavour.

The step that matters

Removing the saucepan at the first bubbles. Sugar syrup's texture depends on how far its water has boiled off. Removing it as soon as bubbles appear, while stirring, keeps the mixture from overcooking, which would make the drops brittle or caramelised.

“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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