Sherbet, Bonbons and Dolly Mixtures: Britain’s Best Traditional Pick n Mix Sweets

Sherbet lemons, bonbons and dolly mixtures are three of Britain’s oldest and most beloved pick n mix sweets. All three have been made for well over a century and are still widely available today. Buy sherbet lemons, caramel toffee bonbons and dolly mixtures at One Pound Sweets, or browse the full pick n mix range for everything else.

Walk into any traditional British sweet shop and you will find these three. Sherbet lemons in their yellow cellophane wrappers. Bonbons dusted in sugar in a paper bag. Dolly mixtures in their cheerful multicoloured pile. They have been staples of the pick n mix counter for longer than most people can remember, and they remain consistently popular despite competing with every new sweet format that has launched in the decades since.

This guide covers all three. What they are, where they come from, and what makes each one worth knowing about for anyone putting together a pick n mix selection today.

Sherbet

What is sherbet?

Sherbet is a fizzy, powdery sweet mixture that creates a tingling sensation on the tongue when it comes into contact with saliva. The fizz comes from a reaction between an acid, usually citric acid, and a base, usually sodium bicarbonate. Combine them with your saliva and you get a gentle carbonation effect that is unmistakeable.

British sherbet sweets come in several formats. Sherbet fountains have a liquorice straw for dipping. Sherbet dips come with a lolly for the same purpose. Flying saucers are rice paper shells filled with sherbet. The most enduring format of all, though, is the sherbet lemon.

Sherbet lemons

Sherbet lemons are hard boiled sweets with a sherbet centre. The outer shell is a lemon-flavoured hard candy that gives a sharp citrus hit as it dissolves. Underneath is a pocket of sherbet powder that you eventually reach as you work through the sweet. Getting to the sherbet is part of the experience. The combination of sharp lemon, hard candy and fizzy centre is one of the most distinctive textures in the British sweet canon.

Sherbet lemons date back to at least the Victorian era and have been sold in British sweet shops ever since. The yellow colour and lemon shape are immediately recognisable. At 140g per bag, a portion at One Pound Sweets is a proper amount of the classic sweet.

Bonbons

What are bonbons?

Bonbon is a broad term for a small, round sweet with a soft or chewy interior. In Britain, the word most commonly refers to a specific type of pick n mix sweet: a soft, chewy centre coated in a fine dusting of sugar. The coating gives a slight grainy texture on the outside before you bite into the chew underneath.

British bonbons come in several flavours. Strawberry bonbons are among the most popular, with their vivid pink colour and intensely sweet strawberry flavour. Lemon bonbons have a sharper, more acidic flavour. Toffee and caramel versions are the richer, more indulgent option.

Caramel toffee bonbons

Caramel toffee bonbons are the most grown-up flavour in the bonbon range. The caramel flavour is warm and buttery rather than sharply fruity, and the chew is softer than you might expect given the sugary coating. They work particularly well in a mixed pick n mix selection as a counterpoint to the sharper sweets like sherbet lemons or sour sweets. A bag alongside something citrusy gives a good flavour contrast.

Bonbons have been part of the British sweet tradition for well over a century. The format is simple and has barely changed. A soft chew in a sugar coat, sold by the quarter from a glass jar, remains one of the most satisfying ways to eat a sweet.

Dolly mixtures

What are dolly mixtures?

Dolly mixtures are a mixed bag of small, soft sweets in different shapes and colours. Each bag contains a variety of fondant and jelly pieces, typically including small cylinders, tiny cubes and flat discs in pastel shades. The shapes are consistent but the flavours vary across the mix, which is part of what makes them a genuinely interactive sweet to eat.

The name dates back to at least the early twentieth century. Various theories exist about the origin but none is conclusive. What is clear is that dolly mixtures have been a British sweet shop staple for generations and show no signs of going anywhere.

Barratt dolly mixtures

Barratt Dolly Mixture is the most widely recognised version of the sweet in the UK. Barratt has been making confectionery since 1848 and dolly mixtures are one of their most enduring products. The small shapes, the pastel colours and the mix of fondant and jelly textures are exactly as they have always been. At 140g per bag the portion is generous for a sweet that is best eaten in small handfuls rather than all at once.

Dolly mixtures work well as a decoration sweet as well as a straight eating sweet. A jar of dolly mixtures on a table at a children’s party is as visually appealing as it is practical.

Buying traditional pick n mix sweets

All three sweets here are available at One Pound Sweets at £1 per bag, which is exactly how pick n mix sweets should be priced. Browse the retro sweets category for the full traditional British selection, or head to the pick n mix range if you want to build a wider selection across all types.