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 ↓
Peppermint Lozenges
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
Steep the gum dragon in warm water until softened.
Squeeze it through a fine sieve and mix it on a clean surface with powdered sugar and oil of peppermint until it forms a stiff paste.
Knead the mixture until smooth.
Shape and dry
Roll it out to ⅛ inch thick and cut into small circles.
Dry the lozenges on sheets of paper in a cool place or near a fire.
Store
Store in boxes or glass containers for later use.
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
- Gum dragon
- Forms the firm, binding base that holds the lozenges together once softened and dried.
- Powdered sugar (double-refined)
- Adds sweetness and bulk, helping the paste become stiff enough to roll and cut.
- Oil of peppermint
- Provides the characteristic peppermint aroma and flavour throughout the lozenges.
The step that matters
Kneading the stiff paste until smooth. Gum dragon and sugar must be evenly worked together; unevenly mixed paste dries with weak spots and uneven flavour, and cuts poorly.
“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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