Why it works: Apple and peppermint work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and 140 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Creme De Menthe Squares
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Soak the agar gelatine in 1 pint of cold water for 1 to 2 hours or overnight.
Dissolve the soaked gelatine over gentle heat, stirring constantly.
Add the glucose and dissolve.
Dissolve the Cox's gelatine in 2 tablespoons of boiling water. Add the Cox's gelatine to the agar and glucose mixture.
Prepare the apple by slicing and simmering it in a little water until soft. Rub the apple through a fine sieve to obtain pulp.
Make the candy
Add the apple pulp and sugar to the mixture.
Boil while stirring until it runs in an unbroken thread.
Flavor with peppermint. Color it a pale green.
Pour into impressions made in sifted confectioners' starch or into a wetted mold.
Leave to set.
Finish and serve
Dust off any starch and roll in icing sugar. Let it dry in the sugar for a day or two. Dust off excess sugar.
If poured into a wetted mold, dip in warm water to unmold.
Cut into rounds or squares. Finish with icing sugar.
Pack in boxes with layers of wax paper.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Apple + pepperminttop 14% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together140 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Agar + pepperminttop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Sugar + appletop 18% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + agartop 22% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together32 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Apple + agartop 24% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together7 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Sugar and apple share little aroma chemistry, yet 16,478 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Agar gelatine
- Sets the mixture into a firm, sliceable jelly.
- Granulated sugar
- Provides sweetness and bulk, and helps the jelly hold its shape.
- Glucose
- Adds sweetness and softness, and helps prevent sugar from crystallising.
- Cooked apple
- Adds moisture, body and mild fruity flavour to the jelly.
- Cox's gelatine
- Adds extra setting strength to the jelly.
The step that matters
Boil while stirring until it runs in an unbroken thread. Cooking to the right point concentrates sugar so the jelly sets firm. Too little boiling leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it tough and rubbery.
Flavor stand-ins for the peppermint
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, apple, agar):
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Nutmegbetter flavor fit
- Clovebetter flavor fit
- Peppermintthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, apple, agar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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