An intensely flavored salty licorice candy seasoned with ammonium chloride, which gives it a sharp, tongue-numbing tang quite unlike sweet licorice. It is a defining Finnish confection, beloved to the point of flavoring ice cream, liqueurs, and chocolate.
Salmiakki is the salty-liquorice confection Finland adores, flavoured with ammonium chloride (salmiak / sal ammoniac) for its sharp, tongue-numbing bite. Ammonium chloride was used as an expectorant cough remedy, and in the 1930s Finnish pharmacies blending it into their own cough syrups masked the harshness with liquorice — making the medicine easier for children to take. The flavour crossed from the pharmacy counter into sweets, an acquired taste that became a national one.
The first hit is salty and sharp, almost mineral, before a deep, bitter-sweet licorice flavor unfurls and lingers. It numbs the tip of the tongue and divides newcomers instantly. For Finns it is addictive, bracing, and intensely nostalgic.
Ammonium chloride provides the signature salty, astringent bite and a mild numbing sensation distinct from table salt. Cooking the sugar syrup to the hard-crack stage sets the candy firm, while licorice extract supplies the dark, characteristic base flavor.
Variations
Soft chewable type, hard pastilles, coated in chocolate, dissolved into salmiakki liqueur or ice cream
On the Palate
Where Salmiakki sits in the Finnish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 20How it's made
7 steps · 15 min
- 15 min
Combine sugar, glucose syrup, and water in a heavy pot and stir to dissolve.
- 25 min
Add licorice root extract and ammonium chloride, stirring until fully blended.
Watch outStir in the licorice extract and ammonium chloride until no gritty specks remain — undissolved salmiak leaves harsh crunchy pockets in the finished candy.
- 310 min
Heat the mixture, stirring, until it reaches the firm hard-crack candy stage.
Watch outCook to the hard-crack stage — a drop in cold water should shatter into brittle, glassy threads; pull it too early and the candy stays sticky and won't set.
- 43 min
Stir in a little flour or gelatin to set the texture, depending on the style desired.
- 55 min
Pour the hot mixture into greased candy molds or onto a lined tray.
- 660 min
Let the candy cool and firm up completely at room temperature.
- 75 min
Unmold or cut into pieces and dust lightly with extra ammonium chloride if desired.
