# Aniseed ball

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Aniseed_ball
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Aniseed_ball.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniseed_ball
> Source revision: 1282148612
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|Hard round sweet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
thumb|right|Aniseed balls with a metric ruler for scale. The top left ball shows the interior of the sweet.
'''Aniseed balls''' are a [comfit](/source/comfit) type of hard round [sweet](/source/confectionery) sold in the United Kingdom, Ireland, [Malta](/source/Malta), South Africa,  Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. They are shiny and dark reddish brown, and hard like [gobstopper](/source/gobstopper)s, but generally only {{convert|1/2|in}} across.

They are flavoured by [aniseed oil](/source/anise), with a strong aniseed flavour, and last for a long time in the mouth before dissolving. In the centre of the ball is normally a whole [rapeseed](/source/rapeseed), which is used for forming layers of sugar around, although other nuclei such as sugar crystals are sometimes used.

== Use as a timing device ==
In the spring of 1939, a magnetically attached [limpet mine](/source/limpet_mine) was constructed in Britain for underwater [sabotage](/source/sabotage) actions in the upcoming war. The mines exploded when a cocked spring hit a detonator. Between the striker and the detonator an aniseed ball was placed, as each had precisely the same spherical shape and consistently dissolved in water after 35 minutes, leaving the saboteur time to escape.  The first of these mines was sent to [Yugoslavia](/source/Yugoslavia) and [Egypt](/source/Egypt) in the autumn of 1939.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tnaoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20 |page=20 |authorlink=Stuart Macrae (inventor) |title=Winston Churchill's Toyshop: The Inside Story of Military Intelligence (Research) |isbn=9781445610290 |last1=MacRae |first1=Stuart |date=15 February 2010 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwEfCgAAQBAJ |title = Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks who Plotted Hitler's Defeat|isbn = 9781444798975|last1 = Milton|first1 = Giles|date = 30 June 2016| publisher=John Murray Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1hnAAAAMAAJ |page=31 |title=Baker Street Irregular |last1=Sweet-Escott |first1=Bickham |year=1965 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |first=David |last=Clay|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/on-this-day-in-yorkshire-1953-aniseed-balls-used-to-set-off-limpet-bombs-611972|title=On this day in Yorkshire 1953: Aniseed balls used to set off limpet bombs |date=17 November 2016 |work=Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer|access-date=31 August 2024 |orig-year=17 November 1953}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/creation-of-the-limpet-mine.html | title=A Condom, Aniseed Ball, and a Bowl of Porridge - the Creation of the Highly Effective Limpet Mine &#124; War History Online | date=24 October 2018 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite book |first1=Adele |last1=Nozedar |title=Great British Sweets: And How To Make Them at Home |publisher=[Random House](/source/Random_House) |date=4 September 2014 |isbn=978-1-4481-6121-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=My9cBAAAQBAJ |language=en}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/6461252/Aniseed-balls-voted-Britains-favourite-childhood-sweets.html |title=Aniseed balls voted Britain's favourite childhood sweets |website=[The Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph) |language=en |date=30 October 2009}}
* {{cite web |first1=Martin |last1=Wainwright |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/mar/05/foodanddrink |title=Sweets we loathe |website=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |date=5 March 2005 |author-link=Martin Wainwright (journalist)}}

{{Traditional British Sweets}}

Category:British confectionery
Category:Candy
Category:Anise

{{confection-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Aniseed ball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniseed_ball) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniseed_ball?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.