Crystallized Candy Ginger

Submitted by evelynathens

"Crystallized ginger is the secret ingredient to my favourite pound cake. It was available briefly and then disappeared off the shelves. I have made this version a few times and find it excellent. I do not include the 8-10 hour drying time in the prep."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 4
• Yields: 1 lb (approximately)

ingredients

• 1 lb fresh gingerroot, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
• water, as required
• sugar, as required
• 1⁄2 cup extra sugar

directions

1. Dry peeled and sliced ginger in a 140F oven for 8-10 hours. Cool. Place in saucepan with enough water to cover.
2. Boil over medium heat until ginger is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and cool.
3. Measure ginger slivers and place in saucepan with equal amounts of sugar (about 3 cups) plus 3 tblsps of water. Simmer ginger slowly until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until ginger becomes transparent and syrup has nearly evaporated.
4. Remove several slivers at a time with slotted spoon and place in paper bag containing 1/2 cup sugar. Shake to coat with sugar then remove to dry on waxed paper.
5. Store in an airtight glass jar.

Reviews

[Feed me now]

Followed the recipe exactly. Oven-dried, re-hydrated ginger did not absorb the syrup or turn translucent. The end product is crunchy, not chewy, and barely sweet. I can't use it for anything. A waste of time and money. Definitely will not use this method again.

 

[Just Janie]

I have made this several times over the past year and just realized that I had not reviewed it. Let me start off by saying I had some problems and Evelyn went out of her way to assist me. I probably cut my slices a little thinner but I think 1/4 imch is probably optimal. I put the slices in my food dehydrator and not the oven, This has always worked great for me. After that I pretty much stay with the recipe. I love this for making Pumpkin Ginger Muffins. Thanks Evelyn. You are the best !!

 

[winkki]

Wow, I will never buy prepackaged crystallized ginger from a store again! The flavor in this is amazing, almost three dimensional...the perfect balance of sweet and a bit spicy that just bursts in whatever it touches. (Can you tell I love this stuff? I had to stop myself from just nibbling on it outright, oops. :o) It looks complex and is a bit time-consuming (though much of that is just peeking in the oven) but is more than worth any effort expended. I cut most of the fresh ginger into very thin dime- and nickel-size pieces (1/2 - 1 inch diameter) and that seemed to work well in the end product. My oven also only goes down to 170F so the drying time was shorter; not a bad thing all in all, just had to remember to keep checking it! I was a bit unsure at first about drying and then rehydrating the ginger ~ it seemed like it might be a bit superfluous, but I've learned to trust Ev's recipes and so I did it anyway. I think it really did make the difference between a good recipe and a great one, because it allowed the ginger to absorb even more of the syrup than it would have otherwise. I saved the ginger-flavored cooking water and also the leftover gingered sugar in the paper bag; they've been terrific little additions to cookies, Asian food, etc. I'm thinking this would be a great homemade gift at the holidays and am also wondering how it might work with orange and lemon peels since it was such a hit with the ginger. I've had this receipe saved for quite a while and am so glad that I finally tried it; it's moved straight to the top of my most favorite recipe list. Thanks SO much, Ev!

 

[Sharon123]

This is so good, even though I messed up the recipe twice! The first time my oven only went as low as 170*F. and I ended up baking them way too long. The second time I didn't watch the pot well enough, and the liquid carmelized. But it still tastes great, but I didn't take a picture. Thanks Evelyn!