Candied Ginger...
A step-by-step guide to making it at home
Gorgeous, crispy chewy chunks of crystallised ginger. Perfect for use as a cocktail garnish, chopped up in ice-cream, or used in your baking (ginger cookies are amazing). Or simply use as a spicy-sweet snack… but beware, once you start nibbling, they won’t last long!
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Crystallized Ginger
In this easy to follow guide, we show you a simple way to make these delicious ginger candies, whilst achieving just the right balance of crisp fiery bite to soft, moist center.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Ginger Root (approx. 236g) - Look for ginger that is plump and fresh, not dry and wrinkled - the older the root the less spicy the taste
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar (approx. 472g) - White works best for that clean sparkly crystallized look, but they're still just as tasty if you want to go organic
- 1 cup Water (approx. 250ml)
Method
- Scrape the skin from the ginger using the back of a spoon. It's a lot easier than using a knife and allows you to get in all the nooks and crannies.
- Cut the ginger into slices, and then add to a pan on a medium heat, along with the water and 1 cup of the sugar.
- Stir until the sugar is dissolved, bringing the syrup mixture to a steady boil. Then drop the heat down low and simmer for 15-20 mins, before removing from the heat and allowing to cool.
- At this point, you need to reserve the ginger slices and 30ml of the liquid. We recommend you save the rest of this gingery syrup for later use, as it makes an amazing addition to everything from cocktails to ice cream, oatmeal to iced tea. (Stored in the fridge in a sterilized container it'll keep for around 4 weeks). Why not take a look at our full guide to getting the most from this tasty ginger syrup.
- Put the ginger slices into a frying pan along with the remaining cup of sugar and 30ml of syrup that you reserved a moment ago. On a medium heat, gently bring the mixture to a boil, stirring as you go.
- The mixture will slowly start to reduce down. Keep moving it around the pan with a spatula and don't let it get too hot - you don't want to burn the syrup or you risk it caramelizing. The aim is to evaporate the liquid so that the sugar re-crystallizes around the ginger. It's this process that will give you that candied crunch once it's all cooled down.
- Keep going until the liquid has completely evaporated and you have a sticky pile of ginger, coated in sugary crystals and syrupy goodness. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Dust with a little extra sugar if you fancy (like there isn't enough on there already!
).
- Once the candied ginger pieces are cool enough to touch, scatter them across a wire cooling rack with a piece of brown paper or board underneath to catch any crumbs. Space them out and allow to dry.
- When they're completely set and have cooled right down, store them in an airtight container. But don't put them in too early or they'll become moist and the sugar coating will 'melt'.
- And as a bonus - don't forget to save all those lovely gingery sugar pieces that collected under the rack. They are SO tasty sprinkled on... well... everything!
Notes
Top Tip: Now don't worry about the state of your pan, I know it looks like an absolute mess but it all comes off with a little hot water. Either run it under the tap or pour a cup of water into the pan, heat it gently, lift the worse off with your spatula and it'll just melt away. Job done. ☺️
Ginger Cocktail Recommendation: The Tiki-Ti Five 0 is the perfect spicy cocktail to try your crystallized ginger in. Use as a tasty garnish and then for that extra candy kick, drop it into the drink as a fiery finisher. 🔥🍹
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