Candied Ginger is a delicious homemade sweet & spicy candy. It's easy to makeif you just have the time, and you only need 3 ingredients: ginger, water and sugar. A great snackon its own, and perfect for topping cakes and cupcakes.
Slice peeled ginger into thin slices. Place in a pan with a lot of water and cook for about an hour, until the ginger has softened.
6 inches fresh ginger
Drain the ginger, then place it back in the pan together with the sugar and water. Mix together and place over medium-high heat.
⅓ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon water
Simmer for 20-40 minutes, stirring often. First the sugar will melt, it's done when almost all the water has evaporated and the sugar has started to form sugar crystals again.
Pour the ginger on parchment paper placed on a heat resistant surface, and mix them with a spoon or kitchen thongs, so that the pieces don't stick together in the initial cooling phase. The sugar will start cooling off immediately and form crystals, when this happens you can stop stirring.
Allow to cool down completely before using, then serve as candy or use to top cakes or cupcakes.
Notes
Ingredient notes & substitutions
Ginger: Smaller and younger ginger roots will soften quicker, but you can use larger ones as well. I recommend peeling it.
Sugar: I always use white refined sugar, but you can use raw sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar or honey as well. The choice of sugar will impact the final look and flavor slightly.
Water: amount shown here is for step 2, boiling the ginger with sugar and water. For the first boil of the ginger you will need much more water.
Change it up by adding additional flavors together with the sugar. Some great options include:
A few sprigs of fresh mint
A dash of cinnamon
A few vanilla beans
A sprinkle of vanilla extract
Lemon juice
Lemon zest
Tips & tricks
Adjust the amounts as desired - it's easy to make more servings of this recipe at once, just change the number of servings in the recipe card. 8 servings makes almost a ½ cup of candied ginger.
Change the size and shape as you like - do matchsticks, slices or cubes, or any shape you like
Thicker pieces will take longer to soften and so the longer they will need to boil before adding the sugar
Larger pieces will take longer to cool down and dry completely
Thinnerpieces will be more crunchy
Reduce initial boil time by making the pieces thinner or using a smaller and younger ginger root
Do boil the ginger first to soften it and remove a bit of the sharp bite
Save the water from boiling the ginger - allow to cool and you have a great ginger shot, just add some lemon and maybe some honey as well
A wide pot reduces the cook time with the sugar - especially if you're making a big batch
Be patient while simmering the ginger with the sugar and water - it does take some time, but the result is worth it
Allow to dry and cool completely before using or storing
Store leftovers in an air tight container in room temperature - it's good for up to 3 months
Store leftovers in the fridge to keep them for longer