Chewy mints

Nana Doris always carried a packet of peppermints in her handbag. Mint became a flavour of comfort, as we’d be offered one whenever we felt carsick, tired or sad and it always perked us up. These ones are super minty, and super chewy.

Makes about 100

mild-flavoured cooking oil spray

295 g (10½ oz/1¹/₃ cups) caster (superfine) sugar

375 ml (13 fl oz/1½ cups) liquid glucose

1 extra-large egg white; you’ll need 53 g (1¾ oz) egg white (see Note)

a pinch of sea salt

35 g (1¼ oz) unsalted butter, melted

1–1¼ teaspoons peppermint extract

Lightly spray a 20 cm (8 inch) square cake tin with cooking oil spray. Line with a long strip of baking paper, letting it overhang two sides, to make it easier to remove the candy once it has set. Smooth the paper into the tin. Lightly spray the baking paper.

Put the sugar, liquid glucose and 2 tablespoons water in a saucepan and stir over high heat until the sugar has dissolved. Run a wet pastry brush around the inside edge of the pan to dissolve any sugar crystals stuck to the side. Bring to the boil, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 115°C (239°F) on a sugar thermometer.

Meanwhile, place the egg white and salt in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric standing mixer and beat at high speed until stiff peaks form.

You now need to add the sugar syrup to the egg white in two stages. When the sugar mixture reaches 115°C (239°F), remove from the heat. With the motor running at full speed on your standing mixer, carefully run a thin stream of the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl. As it starts to thicken up, you can add it in a steady stream — but you should only use half the sugar syrup at this time. Set the rest aside, you will need it soon. Keep beating for a further 15 minutes, or until very thick.

Place the reserved sugar syrup on the heat and bring to 145°C (293°F). With the motor running on your electric mixer, use the same method as before to whisk in all the remaining sugar syrup. Keep beating for another 10 minutes or so, until you have a thick, stiff meringue. It should have cooled down a fair bit, but will still be quite warm.

Beat in the melted butter and peppermint extract until well combined; the mixture will deflate a little, but that’s okay. Pour into the cake tin, then smooth over with a wet crank-handled palette knife. Chill for a short time — until just firm, but not so hard you can’t cut through it.

Cut into 1.5 x 2.5 cm (⁵/₈ x 1 inch) rectangles. Place on a tray lined with baking paper, spaced slightly apart, and chill for about 1 hour, until completely hard.

Wrap in small squares of baking paper (don’t use cellophane or they may stick), twisting each end so they look like bonbons.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge in warm weather, or a cool, dark place in cooler weather. They will keep for several months, but in humid weather they will soften as the sugar starts to break down. If stored in the freezer they shatter nicely on biting into them, then melt into a luscious chew.

Photography © Brett Stevens

note This recipe needs the correct amount of egg white. If you don’t have an extra-large egg, you can use two 60 g (2¼ oz eggs), separate the whites and combine them, then weigh out 53 g (1¾ oz) of the egg white and discard the rest.