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Dessert

Peppermint Lozenges

A peppermint-flavored confection made from gum arabic, isinglass, sugar, and peppermint oil.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Peppermint and sugar 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

Make the paste

  1. Dissolve gum arabic and isinglass in boiling water; let it cool completely.

  2. Mix in the oil of peppermint.

  3. Add sifted loaf sugar and work into a stiff paste.

Shape and dry

  1. Roll out the paste thin on a marble slab, dusting with starch powder.

  2. Cut into lozenges the size of a shilling using a tin cutter.

  3. Place on paper or trays and dry in a warm oven.

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. Peppermint + sugartop 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

Gum arabic
Binds the mixture and gives the lozenges a firm, glossy body.
Isinglass
Adds gelling strength so the paste sets firm rather than soft.
Loaf sugar
Forms the bulk of the lozenge and gives it sweetness and a crisp set when dried.
Oil of peppermint
Provides the characteristic peppermint aroma and flavour.

The step that matters

Let the gum and isinglass cool completely before adding flavour and sugar. If the dissolved gum and isinglass are still hot, the mixture stays thin and can disrupt the paste; fully cooled gelling agents firm up properly and make the stiff paste easier to roll and cut cleanly.

“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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