Homemade peppermint patties
I'm planning to make chocolate-dipped peppermint patties to give as a gift. I've sifted through various recipes on the 'net (I think I've settled on the one linked below) and found that for all their differences, they all call for peppermint extract. I'm pretty sure that the strong, "cool" mint flavor characteristic of, say, York patties and Junior Mints can only be achieved with peppermint oil, an ingredient I haven't used. Can anyone offer any advice on using the oil in a recipe, other than to go by drops? Any ballpark conversion estimates for drops of oil to teaspoons of extract?
Caitlin McGrath
Oct 08, 2004 11:33AM
Have you ever used extract? It's pretty darn pepperminty.
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I agree; i think the problem is many people get spearmint extract. Yuck. Not at all the same.
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Spearmint for savoury, peppermint for sweet: it's easy for people to confuse....
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I use peppermint extract often. It's not the strength of the peppermint flavor I'm trying to adjust, but the particular quality of the taste, if that makes any sense.
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Yeah, that makes sense. I guess I'm just not a peppermint connoissuer.
What's in the filling, anyway? Sugar, goo,....?
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In the recipe I'm using, it's basically just sugar made into goo [g]
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I used peppermint oil for a batch of peppermint marshmallows last year - used about 5-6 drops for a batch that, if vanilla, would have been 1 teaspoon (a 9x13 inch pan). Don't know if that helps. They were plenty peppermint-y. Peppermint extract would probably work fine, though; it's very strong.
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Oh, stupidly didn't mention; made these once ages ago by heating the fondant with peppermint leaves, letting cool, heating again, straining out the leaves. Those were good.
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I agree that oil would be superior to extract, and what I've heard is that the conversion is about 1/4 to 1/3. Since the recipe only calls for 1/4 t of extract, I would suggest starting with a drop and keep tasting until you get the desired flavor. It's powerful stuff!
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