I love crystallised ginger in my baking but it is an expensive ingredient that I can not afford to buy very often. Sometimes my daughter buys it for me to thank me for helping her but I soon run out of it.
I got a big piece of ginger that was cheap from a world food market last week. My was to chop it and freeze it to use in stir fry and teas for the year. Instead I decided to make crystallised ginger with half of it.
Ingredients
1/2 pound of ginger
1/2 pound of sugar.
Method.
1. Peel the skin off the ginger by scraping it with a teaspoon.
2. Slice the ginger thinly.
3. Boil the ginger in water for about 50 mintes until starting to go soft.
4. I then left mine in the hot water with any heat to soften a bit more. I could have cooked it longer instead.
5. Drain the ginger, saving the water.
6. Put the ginger with half of the sugar back into the pan and half a cup of the hot ginger water.
7. Bring to the the water to the boil again and keep stirring constantly until the liquid evaporates and the ginger is sticky and covered in the syrup.
8. I then mixed my ginger in the remaining sugar so that it was coated.
9. Place the ginger on a rack or silicone mat to dry. I left mine in my conservatory but it was too warm and the syrup wasn’t drying out. I therefore put it into a cool room. It took about 4 hours but I would dehydrate in my air fryer if I wanted it ready more quickly.
10. When it is cool and crystallised (bits of syrup on my mat crystallised). Store it in an airtight jar for about 3 months.
I was left with a big jar of strong ginger water which I am diluting and am using for tea this week. We also have some crystallised ginger sugar to sprinkle on something. If my ginger had been organic I would have dehydrated the skin to put in tea as well.
Verdict
I am happy with my crystallised ginger. It tastes good. It is a bit darker than the stuff I usually buy. The water is also very dark. I don’t know if that is because I steeped it a bit after cooking.
Price wise it was a lot cheaper than the places that I would normally buy it from, but not a lot cheaper than the cheape well know brands in the supermarket. However, the cheap versions have sulpher dioxide and preservatives in them which make them last longer, but I don’t particularly want to consume.
I feel so happy as it will be one more thing that I no longer buy from a store. Have you tried making crystallised ginger? There are lots of different ways, I noticed, and so I combined a few of them and made a smaller batch than a lot of recipes I saw.
I like to use crystallised ginger when I make Fat Scallies which are a cheaper rip off of fat rascals that are famous from a posh bakery called Betty’s.
Brillant. One of my favourite ingredients which, like you, I rarely buy.
Do you have a recipe for pickled ginger? Another fantastic ingredient
I don’t. I have never pickled ginger but will look it up now. I guess you use it in savoury dishes. It would save it getting lost in the freezer. Thanks.
This sounds great. Also do you have a recipe that you would be willing to share for the Fat scallies please? Thanks
I don’t know why but the links are no longer high lighting. I think if you press the word fat scallies it should take you to the recipe
Thanks Toni.
I love ginger and this sounds lovely. x
Thanks. I like it in a lot of baked goods. It is especially nice in chocolate
What a super idea . I’ve never used crystallised ginger but you have inspired me & I love lemon & ginger tea so the juice will be lovely as a tea . Thank you x
Brilliant. It is lovely in chocolate cookies or ginger cake
Oh great, it is to expensive and I do like to keep a jar in. I must have a go making it when I see some nice ginger sometimes it’s hit and miss in Lidl by me.
Sounds lovely I like ginger in many things
Could you make the ginger water into a cordial by heating and slowly disolving more granulated sugar?
What a brilliant idea thanks for sharing this Toni x
No worries. Anything to keep me away from the dreaded supermarket 😊
I absolutely love crystalised ginger but it has always been a rare treat with it being so expensive. I can’t wait to have a go at making some. Thank you 😊
No worries. Yes I usually buy some around Christmas time and try to eek it out for the year. 😊. Hopefully we will both enjoy it more often now x
😋 Definitely one to try, thanks for sharing. My son makes a lovely ginger and mango rocky road, I’ll suggest he tries this.
Ooh that sounds nice and different. Brilliant. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing, I will give it a try when my pack runs out
Great. Thanks for commenting