I love just about anything with ginger in it so when Mistrel Boy over at Harp & Sword posted a recipe for crystalized ginger, I just had to try it. I have a simple recipe but this one takes four days and I figure that my house will smell wonderful for that length of time.
The by product of making your own crystalized ginger is ginger syrup. I am going to Santa Fe next week. I have a friend there who is kind enough to let me sleep on a futon on the floor of his recording studio for 3 or 4 nights. One of the things he just has to have when he comes here is gingerbread pancakes from Kerbey Lane Cafe. I'll be taking him a package of the mix for the pancakes and some of this syrup to go on them as a thank you gift. His sweetie, whom I have never met, will recieve some of my handmade soap.
After I get back from Santa Fe, I'll make a ganache of some Scharffen Burger dark chocolate thd dipping some of the ginger pieces in it. Yummmmmm!!! If all this turns out well, I'll be making more for Christmas gifts.
If you try this recipe, you will need a couple of very sharp knives, one for peeling the ginger and one for slicing it. I used my kitchen scales that I bought for soap making to weight the ginger. I don't think I would have ever figured out how much a pound and a half is by volume. You will lose about a quarter of the fresh ginger you start with when you peel the stuff. You will also need a heavy, non-reactive stock pot.
If you haven't read Harp and Sword, you are really missing some good reading. I have to warn you, though, you might gain weight if you try the recipes he posts.
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2 comments:
dipping this in chocolate is a wonderful thing to do. are you all down with the tempering? that's essential. without breaking out the expensive equipment the best way i've found for small scale tempering jobs is to use a quick response heating pad and my no-touch laser instant thermometer. the trick is to never let the tempered chunks get above 92°. by never breaking the temper in the first place you don't have the problems of blooming. the other thing that works almost as well and is far, far easier is to just melt the chocolate in the microwave, do your dip, then dust with cocoa, powdered sugar or toasted cocoanut (and the combination of ginger and cocoanut with the chocolate it pretty astonishing) before it sets.
i'll have to give ya'll an invite to the ranch when my studio at home is finished. although i'm partial to the combination of buckwheat pancakes and ginger syrup. something about the buckwheat cakes just warms this ol' country heart of mine.
Hi MB, thanks for stopping by. I was just going to melt the chocolate very slowly in my double boiler and add just a little milk if it needs thinning. I will certainly use a thermometer. Do you think I will get good results that way? All those dusting combinations sound good.
I'd love to see your place sometime. Buckwheat pancakes are my favs, too, but my friend is hooked on the gingerbread ones so that is what I am taking him.
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