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Sugar mice
A little mouse of sugar with a string tail. Sugar mice are a traditional British sweet, especially popular at Christmas, and simple enough to make at home.
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Sugar mice are a simple, traditional British sweet: a little mouse shaped from sugar, with a tail made of string. They are especially popular at Christmas.
What sugar mice are
Sugar mice are a traditional sweet popular in the United Kingdom, especially at Christmas. They are traditionally made from a boiled fondant of sugar and water. Small portions of the sugar paste are shaped into mice and given a tail, traditionally made of cotton string, although edible tails such as liquorice are also used. The mice may be decorated with faces, or even messages, using extra fondant, icing sugar or chocolate.
Once shaped, the mice are left to dry for one or two days, until they develop their typical dry, crumbly texture, rather like fudge.
A string tail
The traditional cotton tail is not meant to be eaten. If you are giving sugar mice to small children, it is worth checking what the tail is made of, and removing a string tail first.
Making sugar mice at home
The traditional cooked method uses boiled sugar and water, which gets very hot, so there is a simpler, uncooked version for making at home: icing sugar, egg white and golden syrup are mixed into a paste, coloured and flavoured if you like, and shaped into mice. Because this version uses raw egg white, it is not suitable for everyone.
Fondant
The fondant used for sugar mice is a soft sugar paste. The word comes from the French for melting. Various colours and flavours can be added to sugar mice, and fondant takes food colouring well. Fondant is also used for the little cubes in dolly mixtures: see dolly mixtures.
Mice in the pick and mix
We do not sell sugar mice, but our pick and mix has 
Pink and White Mice, which are a chocolate flavoured candy, and 
White Chocolate Mice: see pink and white mice. For more Christmas sweets, see chocolate coins and Christmas sweets and stocking fillers.
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
What are sugar mice made of?
Traditionally a boiled fondant of sugar and water, shaped into mice. A simpler uncooked version, often made at home with children, uses icing sugar, egg white and golden syrup.
Are sugar mice tails edible?
Traditional sugar mice have a tail of cotton string, which is not for eating. Some modern versions use liquorice instead, which is edible.
When are sugar mice eaten?
They are a traditional British sweet that can be enjoyed at any time, but they are especially popular at Christmas.
Sources
- Sugar mice, Wikipedia
- Fondant icing, Wikipedia
Keep reading
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