15: Peppermint Creams

I'm dubbing these "Peppermint Clouds" because with a small flower cookie cutter, they do look rather like clouds arranged on greaseproof paper. I'm certain they will taste equally delicious if I use lemon essence instead of peppermint flavouring.

Peppermint Creams from BBC Good Food
250g icing sugar
30ml double cream
½ an egg white
Peppermint essence
Green food colouring (optional)
200g dark chocolate, melted

Mix all the ingredients, except the chocolate, to a stiff paste, adding the essence and colour in drips until you have a flavour and colour you like. Roll the paste into a sausage about 4cm across and cut it into thick slices. Neaten into smooth, even discs and dry on a sheet of baking parchment, or roll into a sheet, cut neat fingers and dry. Dip half of each cream into the chocolate and leave to set on the paper. Double dip if you have time. Decorate if you like. Makes 30.

This is the recipe I made, omitting the cream after seeing comments from people who’d already tried it and found that it made the mixture too runny. I struggled with getting the peppermint paste to roll into a sausage, as well, because when I went to slice it, it produced squashed rounds rather than neat discs. In the end I rolled it out with a pin and used a flower cookie cutter to produce cloud shapes out of the white peppermint cream mixture. This had its own problems; the mixture is quite sticky, even with a liberal dusting of icing sugar on the chopping board to produce a ‘floured’ surface! They are currently sitting to dry. I nibbled on some cut off bits and they do taste quite nicely and sweetly of peppermint. Instructions on the essence bottle say to put no more than a teaspoon with 250g icing sugar. I also added a whole egg white to the cream mixture because the second recipe I found (see below) calls for two for less than twice this recipe, and I doubt enough of the icing sugar could have been combined with merely half one egg white. We’ll see how they taste when they’re dry. I’m going to acquire more butter and try lemon melting moments as well; something I can bring into work and share with the girls, as they are by and large quite into baking and cooking and seem like they’d be appreciative.

Lotte Duncan’s Peppermint Creams
450g icing sugar
2 egg whites
Peppermint essence
Food colouring
Dolly mixtures/silver balls/etc for decorating

Sift the sugar. Place the egg whites in a bowl and beat lightly with a fork, just sufficiently to break up the albumen. Add half the icing sugar and stir until well mixed, using a wooden spoon. Beat for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the icing sugar and the essence until the mixture is stiff. You may need to add more icing sugar. Separate the mixture into three and add different food colourings to each. Pastels are nice. Roll out and cut out into shapes - hearts, circles and stars. Decorate with the sweets. Lay the sweets out on sheets of greaseproof paper to dry out. Makes 30-40.