DIY Candied Ginger

Hi friends! Check out this haul of fresh ginger from our local Farmers Market! Almost two pounds worth and it was less than $2.00! Seriously!! Don’t you love a bargain? Now, you may be wondering, what I am going to do with all this ginger? Well my friends, we’re going to make DIY Candied Ginger in preparation for all our holiday baking. 

Of course, it does take a bit of prep work. First you have to peel all the ginger. Thankfully it’s not that difficult. You can use a regular peeler, a spoon or if you’re feeling especially Chef-like, you can use a paring knife. My personal choice is either a spoon or my peeler. I’m not brave enough to use a knife, plus, I like my fingers.

Once the ginger is peeled, it’s time to slice! Please, please, use a mandolin for this task. You’re going to want slices that are about 1/8-inch thick. I used this OXO Good Grips Mini Complete Grate and Slice Set! Talk about easy! I may buy one for each of my adult children. Shhhhh… don’t tell them!

Just look at those perfect slices!

Did I mention two pounds of ginger is a LOT? Now, all those slices go into a big pot and get covered with at least 5-6 cups of water. Take a moment now and set up a cooling rack for later.  Spray a cooling rack with non-stick spray and set it over a half sheet pan lined with parchment. Trust me on this, you’ll want it ready when the ginger is ready!

Now, set your stovetop burner to medium-high heat, cover the pot and cook until the ginger is tender, about 30-40 minutes. Once the ginger is soft, transfer to a colander and strain over a big bowl, saving all the cooking liquid. Measure out 1/4 cup of the liquid and set aside.

Pro Tip: Use the rest of the cooking water to make Ginger Syrup!

Break out your kitchen scale! If you don’t have one, you need one. Weigh the strained ginger. Don’t forget to tare the scale to zero after you set the bowl on it. Here’s the updated version of the one I use:  Taylor Digital Food Scale  Once the ginger is weighed, put it back in the cooking pot, then measure out an equal weight of sugar.  In my case, it was 515 grams.  Add the sugar and the reserved 1/4 cup of cooking liquid back to the pot with the ginger.

Set the pot over medium-high heat again and bring it to a boil. Stir frequently. Once the ginger/sugar is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar syrup looks dry and has started to recrystallize. This will take about 15-25 minutes.

PRO TIP: Stay near the pot and stir constantly! The change from frothy syrup to dry sugar crystals happens in SECONDS!

See the picture below? That’s nearing the end of the cooking time. Everything will look frothy, but keep stirring!

This change happens in seconds! As soon as you see this stage (See photo below) get the pot off the heat and get the ginger spread out on your prepared cooling rack.

Alton Brown says this stage reminds him of Frosted Flakes.  He’s completely right of course.

Spread out your Frosted Flakes, I mean, Candied Ginger, over the cooling rack to separate the pieces. Let it cool for at least an hour. Feel free to sneak a piece to sample though. I won’t tell anyone.

When your candied ginger is completely cooled, store it in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.  Now you are ready to schedule all your ginger baking plans accordingly.

BONUS CANDIED GINGER FUN!!

Save all the sugar that dropped under the cooling rack and use it to sweeten your coffee, sprinkle over ice-cream or use it anywhere you want ginger sugar!

That’s ginger gold right there!

Last time I went to the store,  a small container of candied ginger was over $7.00! This recipe gave me almost three cups worth of candied ginger, plus ginger syrup AND the most delicious ginger sugar for under $2.00 and about 2 hours of my time.  WELL WORTH IT!  That’s what I call a sweet deal!

Now that you have all this delicious candied ginger, tell me your favorite way to use it! Personally, I am looking forward to gingerbread and some ginger-molasses cookies!

Enjoy, friends and happy baking!