Friday 19 April 2013

Peppermint Cream Buttons



You know in those last few moments before you fall asleep, how weird and wonderful thoughts can occur? This was one of those. As I'm sure you'll imagine, I tend to have buttons on the brain quite a lot of the time, but why the notion of peppermint cream buttons suddenly sprang to mind just feet away from the Land of Nod border... well, we'll never know.

I made a large batch and split them between my office and craft club, where they went down rather well. I think they would make rather lovely wedding favours, too. 

This is a confectionery I've made many times over the years, but I finally decided that seeing as this lot would need to last over several days, and away from the fridge, I would adapt the recipe so as to leave out the egg white. Please welcome instead... condensed milk!


The following is for a large batch; just halve it if you require less:

Ingredients:
450g icing sugar
230g condensed milk (plenty in one tin)
A few drops of peppermint essence
Chocolate (optional)
Food colouring (optional)
A small round cutter - I made one out of a plastic lid and gave it a good wash

Pour your condensed milk into a bowl (mmm, Winnie the Pooh moment) and sift the icing sugar into it. Give it a jolly good mix, then add your peppermint essence and food colouring if using. I split the mixture into two and made one half green. Knead the mixture until smooth.



Roll out your mixture in batches - keeping the unrolled batches in clingfilm to prevent them drying out - to about 5mm thickness. Cut out your rounds, and place on greaseproof paper. Leave to firm up for ten to fifteen minutes, then use a cocktail stick to make holes in your peppermint buttons and draw a rim around each. I made half buttons, half hearts. (I also used a posh doodah for my decorating, but a cocktail stick works perfectly).



Pop your creations in the fridge, and if using chocolate, drizzle it on or dip the buttons once nice and firm.

Enjoy!




I had some leftover condensed milk, which I used to make flapjack. Peppermint creams make lovely gifts, after dinner mints... or in my case, crochet class rewards!




22 comments:

  1. buttons!

    condensed milk!

    peppermint flavour!

    cuteness!

    it seems as though miss beatrix read miss mezz's mind and made something with all of her fav things! thanks for sharing ur recipe, ill be gi(ving this a go xx

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    Replies
    1. Condensed milk is a relatively new discovery for me - at least I knew about it (hence the Winnie the Pooh reference) but had never used it - and now I'm discovering it's handy for all sorts of recipes! Hope you enjoy making them. x

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  2. Peppermint creams? Yum! BUTTON-shaped sweeties - double yum!!! :-)
    Carly
    x

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  3. Oh my! I couldn't eat them, but I could just admire them! My friend brought me some vintage button vegan chocolate buttons from Hotel Chocolat....they didn't last long.....:) x

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    Replies
    1. Oh those sound good, I've never tried anything from Hotel Chocolat. x

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  4. Hey lovely!,
    Definitely going to give these a go! Beautiful and tasty. Plus the bloke might actually think they are buttons meaning I get to eat them all! haha.

    Yorkshire Pud
    x

    yorkshirepud123.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny you should say that. I took a batch into work in a clear tub and left them on the coffee table, and a colleague said, 'Oh, Anna are these the buttons you sell? They look...erm...ah...erm... good.' I couldn't stop laughing for about an hour! x

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  5. These are so adorable! And are getting pinned straight onto my super secret wedding Pinterest board :) xx

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  6. These are so cute, and would make absolutely adorable cupcake toppers!! (why do I take EVERYTHING back to cake...?!) xx

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  7. Oh dear, I have such a sweet tooth...
    Thanks for the recipe! Now to the pantry and see I have everything to make them!

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  8. This is the best idea! I always seem to make peppermint creams at Christmas time, but these are too cute to save until then :)

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    Replies
    1. I traditionally made this recipe at Christmas too, but for some reason the button-shaped version strikes me as a summery thing. Perhaps the wedding favour idea? x

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  9. Something told Anna that Tiggers didn't like condensed milk and that she'd better take it into a corner with a spoon...

    When I get married, can I commission you to make my wedding favours?

    Clare Xx

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    Replies
    1. Tiggers don't like haycorns or thistles either (because of the prickles). Ha ha, of course! x

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  10. too cute!!!!!!!! great post, thanks :) www.rockafollow.com

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  11. When we were little my mum used to help run summer holiday play schemes and these were always a favourite make for the little children to get involved with making. Thank you so much for posting this as I had completely forgotten about these beauties and I can actually taste them right now!! I'm am definitely going to make these with my boy very soon. Thank you, thank you. By the way, have followed here. Would love you to stop by mine: www.virtual-rhiality.com xx

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