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Dessert

Rose, Lemon, Ginger, and Other Lozenges

A confection of gum-water, sugar, and flavorings to make rose, lemon, ginger, and other lozenges.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Rose, Lemon, Ginger, and Other Lozenges

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Mix gum-water and sugar in a bowl.

Flavor the lozenges

  1. For Rose Lozenges, add 10-12 drops of otto of rose.

  2. For Lemon Lozenges, add 10-12 drops of essential oil of lemons.

  3. For Ginger Lozenges, add 10-12 drops of essence of ginger or 1 tablespoon of ground ginger.

  4. If needed, add a few more drops of essence after mixing and stir well.

Color

  1. To color the lozenges, mix desired food coloring into the gum-water before adding sugar.

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. Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Rose + lemontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,174 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14,054 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  4. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Rose + gingertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together118 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes: they 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

Gum-water
Binds the sugar into a firm, shapeable mass as the lozenges set.
Sugar
Provides sweetness and bulk, and hardens into the lozenge body as it dries.
Otto of rose
Adds concentrated rose aroma and flavor to the Rose Lozenges.
Essential oil of lemons
Adds concentrated lemon aroma and flavor to the Lemon Lozenges.
Essence of ginger
Adds concentrated ginger aroma and flavor to the Ginger Lozenges.

The step that matters

Adding the flavor drops. Essential oils and essences are very concentrated, so a few extra drops can overpower the sugar and make the lozenges taste harsh. Add the drops gradually, mixing well between additions, and taste or smell as you go.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, rose, lemon):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Marjoramfits about as well
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, rose, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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