Peppermint creams recipe

Peppermint creams are such a nostalgic sweet treat, which are great boxed up and shared as a gift.

This recipe for peppermint creams is incredibly simple to make, using just four ingredients. The bite-sized sweets are soft and sugary, with an intense and heavenly peppermint scent. You can serve them as they are, but for a decadent touch coat them in a luxurious chocolate layer - they’ll be perfect as after-dinner mints. A favourite of the Queen Mother back in the day, peppermint creams date back to early Victorian times.

Ingredients

• 500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar, sifted
• 1 egg white, stiffly whipped
• 1-2tsp lemon juice
• Few drops peppermint oil, to taste

To decorate:

• Half a 36g jar natural crystallised violet petals
• Half a 36g jar natural crystallised rose petals

Method

1. Mix together the icing sugar, egg white, lemon juice and peppermint oil until you have the texture of pastry. Knead well so that the mixture is smooth, then roll out on a work surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to a thickness of 1cm (½in).
2. Cut out rounds with a 2½-4cm (1-1½in) cutter - or for fun, try different shaped cutters such as stars, hearts and moons. Pop them on a piece of greaseproof paper and decorate with the crystallized violet and rose petals. Leave to harden for 12 hours or overnight.

Top tips for making peppermint creams:

Why not add these peppermint creams to some chocolate cupcakes and enjoy the classic chocolate and mint flavour combination. We recommended Victoria Threader’s delicious peppermint cream cupcakes (opens in new tab).

This recipe can also be made vegan-friendly, by swapping the egg whites for whipped aquafaba (the water from canned chickpeas)