Historical Candied Ginger
“’There is a gift for the boy in one of the chests. Some candied ginger. He was always fond of it.’ Illyrio sounded oddly sad.” -A Dance with Dragons
Modern Candied Ginger
Thoughts:
Rustic, simple, and quite sweet, the historical candied ginger is as wonderful straight as it is added to tea. The texture appears to be quite hard, but dissolves and crumbles nicely in the mouth. Despite the relatively small amount of ginger, the finished Georgian candies have a wonderful zip to them, without the same overpowering ginger as actual slices.
Quite their opposite, the modern recipe produces candied ginger that will set one’s mouth on fire. They are the more easily recognizable candied ginger that one can find in many stores, but I’ve never encountered any with this much bite.
Personally, I preferred the more mild gingeriness of the older recipe, although true ginger fans will love the modern.
Georgian Candied Ginger Recipe
- 1 lb. sugar
- water, about 1/4 cup
- 1/2 oz. grated ginger
Modern Candied Ginger Recipe
- a large fresh ginger root, about 5″ long
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup more for dusting
I love ginger. Nothing warms you up like a nice hot ginger tea, but my favorite has to be candied ginger. Sweet with a bit of a hot spice taste. I must admit Ive never tried the historical version but it sounds sweet. thanks guys.
I made candied ginger last Christmas because I was making some fruitcakes (and my dear husband got fresh ginger at the store, rather than the requested candied ginger because ‘it was so much cheaper’) I boiled mine in simple syrup and the ginger-infused simple syrup is amazing. It goes great with a bit of whiskey and ice – we’ve dubbed it an Irish Shipwreck!
I made the Historical Georgian Candied Ginger yesterday and have let them sit up to dry overnight. The ginger taste is elegant and subtle, but the candies are grainy and not a ‘smooth, melt in your mouth’ feel. Guess I didn’t let the sugar mixture cook long enough. It is very dry here at 7,000 feet altitude and I used the entire 1/4 cup water…maybe I needed more water with a longer cook time; but was afraid of diluting the flavors. BUT, as I said, the ginger flavor is fantastic!
Duh, that’s SET up to dry…they don’t have enough ginger in them to make them SIT up…the little guys are just relaxing on the parchment paper!
Not sure what an earthen dish is but sounds like unglazed pottery.
I tried them twice today. The first time I used ground ginger. Those did not work out at all. The second time I just used the required amount in fresh ginger, chopped it roughly and put it in the sugar. I boiled it with the rest and when done I took it out again. The second try came out much better than the first. They do kinda look like those on the pic, while the first ones were just brown things. And they just have a light taste of ginger. I like that.
I really really love ginger, has anyone tried making the Gregorian one with twice the ginger for more zip?
I made them with twice the ginger, very sharp indeed.