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May 12, 2006
Sugar High Friday: Ginger
I've often intended to but never quite got round to getting involved in Sugar High Friday. It's a reoccurring blog event that was originally, once-upon-a-long-time-ago, started by Domestic Goddess Jennifer. This round is being hosted by Ruth, who is physically situated in Toronto - virtually at Once Upon A Feast and the theme she has picked for this month is ginger. I love this spice in all its incarnations, ground and used in a delicious little Ginger Gem, chunks of crystallised ginger studing a moist, sticky slab of Gingerbread or - at the other end of the spectrum - slices of the fresh root simmered in a savory chicken stock for soup.
Ginger is well loved in New Zealand and that's very evident in any café or bakery that you go into. One of the (many) things that I love about NZ is the easy availability of great sweet treats to have with a cup of coffee - things like Tan Slice, shortbread, Millionaire Squares, countless oaty slices, amazing looking cookies and, one of my all time favourites, Ginger Crunch. Six months back in Ireland and suffering from a Ginger Crunch deficit, I decided that this was going to be my contribution to the latest round of SHF.
![SHF[1].0.jpg](http://www.bibliocook.com/archives/SHF[1].0.jpg)
I'm not sure where this recipe for Ginger Crunch came from as it is an amalgamation of several different versions - I'm sure it has its roots somewhere, at some stage, in the New Zealand classic Edmonds Cookery Book. Wanting to to make it particularly gingery I added at two teaspoons of ground ginger to the base, along with some chopped crystallised ginger. Just perfect with a cup of coffee on a Sugar High Friday afternoon.
Ginger Crunch
Base:
Butter - 225g, melted
Brown muscovado sugar - 225g
Ground ginger - 1 or 2 teaspoons
Salt - a pinch
Plain flour - 425g
Baking powder - ½ teaspoon
Crystallised ginger - 50g, chopped
Icing:
Butter - 75g
Golden syrup - 4 tablespoons
Icing sugar - 125g
Ground ginger - 2 teaspoons
Preheat the oven to 160°C and use a little butter to grease a 30cm x 20cm baking tray.
Mix the brown muscovado sugar, ground ginger, salt, plain flour, baking powder and crystallised ginger together in a bowl. Add the melted butter, mix well, then press the mixture firmly into a baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
For the icing, melt the butter and golden syrup together. Add the icing sugar and ginger and stir well. Pour over base while it is still warm and spread evenly. Cut into pieces immediately.
Makes about 24 small pieces.
Posted by Caroline at May 12, 2006 6:04 PM
Comments
Yum. I must have a bit of New Zealand in me, because I love ginger in everything!
Posted by: Kieran at May 12, 2006 6:19 PM
You'd love NZ, in that case, Kieran. Loads of gingery things to try - and their ginger beer...SO good!
Posted by: Caroline at May 14, 2006 10:18 PM
Caroline, I've always wanted to visit New Zealand and now I have another incentive - ginger!
Love the sound of ginger crunch and photo looks good enough to eat. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Ruth at May 16, 2006 9:29 PM
The amount of different ginger-flavoured things that you can get in NZ is really mind boggling. My particular favourite was the ginger bears - gummi bear-types with a real spicy zing. Oh, there's lots of things that I wish I'd brought back from New Zealand. At least I managed to bring the Boyfriend with me!
Posted by: Caroline at May 17, 2006 10:31 PM
YES! I simply adore ginger crunch, it's always my slice of choice.
I'm thinking I might get out my trusty or is that rusty? gem irons for this event, haven't used them in years!!
Posted by: bron at May 18, 2006 9:57 PM
Oh, I miss my gem irons! I really enjoyed using them when I was in New Zealand and, since I came back, I've been driving the Boyfriend mad by listing off the things-that-I-should-have-brought-back-to-Ireland. They're top of that ever-lengthening list, along with my small cast-iron frying pan, asian cleaver, Errol Hitt's Canterbury saffron, some Pure Wasabi and cookbooks too numerous to mention. Definitely dig them out, Bron, and let me know how you get on!
Posted by: Caroline at May 18, 2006 11:04 PM
