Peppermint Crushed Candy Garnish (Printable version)
Crushed peppermint candy creates a festive topping for sweets and beverages, adding cool flavor and texture.
# What you need:
→ Peppermint Candy
01 - 150 g (about 25 pieces) hard peppermint candies or candy canes
# How To:
01 - Unwrap all peppermint candies and place them in a sturdy zip-top plastic bag.
02 - Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible to prevent candy pieces from escaping.
03 - Place the sealed bag on a cutting board and use a rolling pin or meat mallet to crush the candies to your preferred consistency, either fine or coarse.
04 - Transfer the crushed peppermint to an airtight container and keep it at room temperature until needed.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- It takes five minutes to make and instantly elevates any dessert from ordinary to Instagram-worthy festive
- The texture stays perfectly crisp, adding an unexpected crunch that plays beautifully against soft cakes, creamy ice cream, and rich hot chocolate
- You're using just one ingredient, yet somehow it feels like you've unlocked a professional pastry chef secret
02 -
- The candies must be genuinely hard and brittle, or they'll turn into sticky clumps instead of satisfying shards. Room temperature storage matters far more than you'd think for maintaining that perfect crunch.
- Crushing by hand with a rolling pin gives you control over texture in a way that a food processor cannot. The processor tends to create either dust or chunks with nothing in between, whereas hand-crushing lets you stop exactly when the pieces are the size you want.
03 -
- For a fine powder consistency, transfer your crushed pieces to a food processor after the initial crushing, giving you more control than starting from whole candies
- Double-bag your candies to prevent any sticky situations or broken bags mid-crush, which becomes especially important if you're making large batches