Yippee!
They’re done!
When I was about 8, I went to a cooking class over the school holidays (one of those one off sessions that were offered by local councils.) The Peppermint Cream recipe came from there and is probably the one recipe I have regularly made from the session.
It’s amazingly versatile. I have coated it in chocolate for a homemade After Dinner Mint. I’ve made it much thinner and green and used it to fill chocolates. I know of people who have used orange essence instead of peppermint. And it’s really easy!
Peppermint Creams
400g icing sugar (icing mixture is fine)
a couple of drops of peppermint essence
1 egg white
lemon juice
Mix them all together (using the lemon juice to get the correct consistency—not the peppermint essence!) Add food colouring if you like. (If you add too much lemon juice, just add more icing sugar. The reverse is true also. I have had batches that have almost doubled in size because I kept misjudging. This is very forgiving.) Turn out onto an icing sugar covered surface. Press out to about 1 centimetre thick and cut into shapes. There is no need to roll, pressing out is fine. Usually of late, I’ve simply rolled it out and cut into squares, but this year I did little shapes. The shapes I have make pieces about twice the size I have done in the past… it may be better smaller, but less picturesque. Leave to air dry for a couple of hours, then place in an air tight container.
Hints…
Cake decorators may note that this is basically Royal Icing (you know, the really hard stuff) with flavouring. It is important that if you are not able to clean things up immediately, you should definitely put them on to soak (lay a damp cloth on your work surface). It’s easy to clean straight away, but if it dries it can be difficult!
If you use cutters, try to use ones that don’t have narrow points. If you make stars, about half of them will lose some of a point.
The easiest way to use the cutters is to rub them in a pile of icing sugar, then press into the mix near the edge. Drag towards the outside. This removes the dough from the surface. Then you shake the cutter to remove the cream. You can try poking the shape, but I find that often just leaves an impression on the surface and doesn’t in fact help remove it. Keep working around the outer edge.
The drier the dough is, the easier it is to cut.
If it gets too dry, it can be too crumbly.
I generally get the consistency close, then divide into three, and work each section separately. The first gets more icing sugar added, the last doesn’t need as much because it has dried out more.
The longer you can leave them to dry (even in the container), the better. If you can avoid eating them for a couple of weeks they get really nice and crisp:-)
