Peppermint Pattie Day

What the day is

Peppermint Pattie Day is observed on February 11. The candy is simple in construction: a flat disc of firm peppermint fondant enrobed in dark chocolate, eaten cold by preference.

Chocolate and mint is an unremarkable pairing on its own. What distinguishes a peppermint pattie is texture, specifically the clean break when you snap one in half.

Origin and background

The origin of the observance is not documented. The best-known version of the candy comes from York, Pennsylvania, where it was developed around 1940 by a confectioner named Henry Kessler at the York Cone Company. The brand later passed through several owners and remains widely sold.

The snap was reportedly a quality standard rather than an accident. A pattie that bent instead of breaking was considered a failure, because bending meant the fondant center was too soft, which in turn meant it would go soggy against the chocolate on the shelf.

The fondant itself is a piece of candy engineering. Sugar fondant is stiff when made, and confectioners commonly add an enzyme called invertase, which slowly breaks some of the sucrose down after the candy is sealed inside its chocolate shell. That is why a soft-centered candy can be enrobed while firm and become yielding weeks later, and why texture changes with age.

Mint's cooling sensation is a separate trick. Menthol does not lower the temperature of anything; it activates the same cold receptors in the mouth that genuine cold does, which is why a mint eaten with a glass of water tastes startlingly cold.

How to take part

• Eat one straight from the refrigerator. Cold firms the center and sharpens the mint considerably.
• Make them at home. Powdered sugar, a little butter or condensed milk and peppermint extract, chilled and dipped, is a straightforward afternoon.
• Use dark chocolate rather than milk. The fondant is very sweet and needs the bitterness against it.
• Drop one into hot chocolate and let it dissolve.
• Check the snap before you eat it. That is the day's one piece of quality control.