"Tess" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> Okay, I've been dreading this for years, because I've never had any
> success
> finding a recipe. This year I have to make some, and I hope that somebody
> recognises what I'm looking for.
>
> When I was a little girl, my mother was friends with a neighbour lady.
> Every
> Christmas mother would give her a bottle of wine, and the lady would give
> us
> a box of the best homemade mints I've ever had in my life.
>
> They were about as big as a quarter, and she made them in pastel colours,
> pink and green and yellow. She must have used a mould, and the green ones
> were shaped like leaves, and the yellow and pink ones were rosettes. The
> were soft and creamy, and had been sprinkled with sparkly sugar.
>
> I'd love to make some for my folks, ( and us, too! ), but I've never known
> what they were called. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I'm also no
> whiz
> at candy, but I don't think these are going to be all that hard. ( so to
> speak ).
>
> Help? ( Mrs. Armstrong, are you out there? )
>
> Thanks much!
>
> - Tess
> ============================

Yes. They're very easy to make but time consuming if you put them into
moulds, remove them and then let them dry a bit on racks...

That being said, my MIL makes them all of the time and I make them for
special gifts. I made 3 different flavors (and colors) for one of my aunts,
at Christmas, last year. For packaging, I found an inexpensive crystal
candy dish to put them in. Cyndi


Here's the recipe according to Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book:

Cream Cheese Mints
*These mints can be frozen for up to one month*

3 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 tsp. Peppermint extract (I use lots of other flavors, too)
3 cups sifted powdered (confectioners) sugar
Few drops of food coloring
Granulated sugar

In a small mixer bowl combine softened cream cheese and peppermint extract.
Gradually beat in powdered sugar with electric mixer till mixture is smooth.
(Knead in the last of the powdered sugar with your hands.) Knead in food
coloring till evenly distributed.

Sprinkle small candy molds lightly with granulated sugar. Press about 1/2
to 3/4 tsp. of cream cheese mixture into each mold. Remove from mold. OR
form mixture into 3/4 inch balls. Dip each ball into granulated sugar;
place on waxed paper. Flatten each with the bottom of a juice glass or
with the tines of a fork. Let dry overnight. Makes 6-8 dozen molded mints
or about 4 dozen of the (juice glass pressed) patties.