Because I’m not buying gifts for anyone this Christmas, I have been testing out some recipes for bits and bobs that I can wrap in cellophane and give for gifts instead. Peppermint creams have been one of my experiments and honestly, I was really happy with how they turned out.
I actually split the recipe once the icing sugar was mixed in and added peppermint to hafl the batch and strawberry to the other half.
No photos yet because I haven’t made the final (pretty) batches, but if you check back you may (or may not, depending on how lazy I get) find photos added later.
Peppermint Creams
Ingredients
2 eggwhites, at room temperature
4 cups (600g) pure icing sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon peppermint essence
green food colouring
400g good-quality dark cooking
chocolate, melted
Method
1. Place eggwhites in a clean, dry bowl. Using a whisk, whisk until frothy. Add icing sugar, peppermint essence and green food colouring. Using a wooden spoon, stir until mixture almost comes together. Then use your hands to bring the mix together into a bowl.
2. Turn mixture onto a clean surface lightly dusted with icing sugar. Knead until smooth and not sticky. Work in extra icing sugar if necessary. Roll small amounts of the mixture into balls.
3. Line 2 large, flat baking trays with baking paper. Place balls on prepared trays and flatten; either with a fork or with your thumb, depending on whether you want fork marks or not. Set aside, uncovered, overnight, turning over once, to allow peppermint creams to dry out. Make sure you leave them in a cool place or they won’t set properly.
[Side note, I should be grateful that the weather is winterlike at the moment hey, rather than the typical December temperatures of 25C+]
4. Once the surface is dry to touch half-dip each peppermint cream in melted chocolate (make sure chocolate is not too hot or it will melt the peppermint mixture). Return peppermint creams to trays. Refrigerate until chocolate is set.
Notes: Make sure that the icing sugar you use is PURE icing sugar, not icing mixture. Icing mixture has tapioca starch added (for stability? for thickening? I don’t know, should research it) which makes the peppermint creams taste floury. Not a good thing.
Variations: Use strawberry essence and pink food colouring for strawberry creams. Lemon essence and yellow food colouring for lemon creams. Orange essence and orange food colouring for orange creams. You could also use rosewater essence for a Turkish Delight tasting cream.
