Recipes using candied ginger

[shorty68]

Can anyone share with me their favorite recipes which contain candied ginger? I made a pound of candied ginger and am looking for ways to use it. I have already sprinkled it on top of fruit salad, mango sorbet, and lychee sorbet.

I am open to any ideas (mixed drinks, breads, cookies, cooking).

I like eating it as is, but I need some variety.

[thursday]

I ran out of powdered ginger without realizing it...makes it difficult to make gingerbread men. Except I had candied ginger on hand - so I minced it very fine and used it both instead of ginger in the recipe and also as buttons on the baked men. Delicious!

[vinken]

I just sold my catering company last year. one of my favorite hors d'oeuvres was a gingered meat ball with slightly sour apricot sauce. sauce came from a cook book for hors d'oeurves from 30 years ago. but an asian essenced meat ball laced with chopped candied ginger, water chestnuts, scallions in an apricot jam based sweet and sour (white wine vinegar was the sour), was immensely popular. meat balls were based on beef + pork.

[LindaWhit]

That sounds VERY good, vinken!

[lexpatti]

Did anyone catch the new show on Foodnetwork that is all about Spices? She did a carrot cake cupcakes, with a frosting that might have had 5 spice in it, then sprinkled chopped candies ginger on top - cute and looked delish:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/spice-easy...

[Helen13]

Have you ever tried French macarons with candied ginger? This is my favorite recipe: http://www.histoiresucree.com/recipes...

[PAO]

My husband, who thinks dessert isn't dessert unless it has chocolate, admits that these cookies with crystallized ginger are his absolute favorite, even though there is no chocolate. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...
They are homely but incredibly delicious. Bake only one pan at a time.

[OCEllen]

Earlier this week I made a sort of conserve with fresh and dried apricots, lemon, honey and candied ginger - it turned out great!

[Kajikit]

Candied ginger makes a lovely topping for sugar cookies or muffins...
I made a coffee cake and put pecan nuts, butterscotch chips, and candied ginger into the mix and everyone thought it was delicious.
Mama used to use it in chinese food for a sweeter finish on the dish. I like it in honey-soy chicken.

Care to share the recipe FOR the candied ginger? I go through quite a bit and it's expensive to buy...

[JoanN]

I'm not the OP, but here's the recipe I use.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives...

Lebovitz says to use young ginger for best results. Frankly, I find using young ginger critical and won't waste my time trying to make candied ginger from mature gingerroot. Althugh Lebovitz just gives a single recipe for either young (stem) ginger or mature ginger, other recipes I've used call for repeated simmering and draining of the mature gingerroot to break down the woody fibers. Even with all that prep, the results from the mature ginger just didn't compare to the results from the stem ginger so I wait until late spring/early summer when I can most reliably find stem ginger in Chinatown before making either candied ginger or ginger marmalade.

[shorty68]

What is the difference between using young ginger and mature ginger? Is the main difference that the young ginger has less fibers?

[hotoynoodle]

i buy ginger in chinatown 99% of the time and can tell when it's fresh or heading to dried out. technically it's all stem ginger, so i'm not sure what differential you make?

[JoanN]

Perhaps I was using the words "stem ginger" incorrectly and should have used the term "young ginger." Young ginger has distinctly pink tips and significantly thinner skin. And it is definitely far less fibrous than more mature ginger. I'm not using the word "mature" in a negative sense here. I don't mean old or dried out, just not young. Mature ginger is good for nearly all my ginger needs. But for ginger marmalade and candied ginger, I prefer to use young ginger if I can get it.

Here's a link to a photo of young ginger.

http://www.pbase.com/selvin/image/318...

I practically never find it other than in Chinatown and even in Chinatown (NYC) it's only in one or two stores and only in those stores when in season.

[hotoynoodle]

thank you for that! i don't know that i've ever seen it, although never really looked, lol.

[stilton]

Dice finely and add to gingerbread pancakes or waffles. Start with 1/3 cup diced and work your way up from there.
http://tinyurl.com/crjany

Bonus points if you have any ginger syrup left from making the candied ginger to serve over the pancakes.

I like to throw it into lebkuchen too. It adds moisture and keeps the cookies soft.

[ChesterhillGirl]

This is a link to the best gingerbread I've ever eaten. When I made it, I glazed it with a lemon juice and powdered sugar icing that was a good foil for the spicy sweetness of the cake.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe...

[shorty68]

I see that the recipe calls for white whole wheat flour. Is this different than whole wheat flour?

[Stuffed Monkey]

Yes it is . It is a particular strain of wheat where the bran is not brown. Used to be trash and thrown out, but now with our health concious eating it is milled into White Whole Flour.
You can get it from King Arthur, by mail if you need to.
www.Kingarthurflours.com

[maple99]

We are past the season for this year, obviously, but candied ginger is fabulous in a rhubarb pie.

[JEN10]

I have the William Sanoma cookbook "On The Side". I like to make the sweet potato ginger pudding. It is great with turkey, I make it for thanksgiving. It is a delicious savory,sweet, souffle like concoction. It has sweet potatoes lemon zest, crystalized ginger, cream, nutmeg, and egg whites whipped.

[JoanN]

That sounds like something my family would really like. Is this the recipe?

http://recipe.aol.com/recipe/sweet-po...

[JEN10]

That is it! I do it up to the point of whipping the egg whites the day ahead. Bring it to room temp and the fold in the egg whites while the turkey rests and gets sliced up. My daughter begs for this on special occasions.

[JoanN]

Great tip! Adding it to the recipe right now. Thanks.

[shorty68]

That looks good. I'll have to try this recipe.

[phoenikia]

This triple ginger pound cake from Epicurious is the best pound cake I've ever made/tasted:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[LJS]

Then there is Ginger Ice Cream...marvelous with apple pie!

[JoanN]

I love ginger ice cream, but the couple of different recipes I've tried call for fresh ginger, not candied. The one time I added bits of candied ginger to the partially frozen ice cream, the bits clumped together and then got really hard when the ice cream was fully frozen. It was not a successful experiment. Do you have a recipe or a particular trick that solves those problems?

[LJS]

The recipe I used was an adaptation from the Ben and Gerry book of basic ice cream recipes...I know it did call for a last minute dosing with candied ginger and I vividly recall coming across the gingery-sugary chunks, not clumps, so it must have worked, though I think the base was fresh ginger (and I know I dosed it with Stone's Green Ginger Wine)..sorry, book is packed up for yet another move...sigh.

[Stuffed Monkey]

If your supply lasts til the fall, I do love ginger with pears.

[Budino]

really fantastic with plums. Saute a little butter, add some sliced plums and candied ginger and cook til the plums release their juice. Serve over ice cream, as part of a pavlova, stir into oatmeal...etc

[Will Owen]

A ginger glaze for pork, ham or duck would be nice. A woman I knew years ago did a ham glazed with ginger marmalade, which used to be a common comestible. I haven't seen any of that in years, but I'm sure one could make something similar using the candied stuff.

I love the notion of ginger in shortcakes for peaches. I love using mace in peach desserts, and the ginger would pair very well with that, too. So much more interesting than the ubiquitous cinnamon...

[shorty68]

I have already tried ginger with mango sorbet, and ginger with lychee sorbet. Ginger and peach sounds like a good combination. Maybe I will make peach icecream and sprinkle candied ginger on it.

[lgss]

Not a recipe but we eat it with chocolate chips (by the handful) for dessert some nights.

[lgss]

Add to ginger bread recipe.

[lgss]

Vegan Lunchbox has a great recipe for Blackstrap Ginger Bread with Lemon Sauce (We've only had it without the lemon sauce, so far). Can be breakfast or dessert.

[LJS]

Make a Ginger Trifle. Traditional trifle elements are substituted with gingerbread,lemon curd or applesauce, gingered custard and ginger marmalade topped with whipping cream studded with candied ginger...yes, you do have to love ginger, but I made this for a ginger-loving friend's birthday instead of a cake and she was delighted.

[amazinc]

Favorite biscotti recipe has the addition of chopped (not too fine) candied ginger and toasted pecans. Also, there's an old ginger/pecan cookie recipe from Williams-Sonama that I used to make around the Holidays that was always a hit. So there, you have it in the cookie dept. one soft and one crunchy!

[AmyH]

It's great minced up and mixed into gingerbread. It's also very nice minced and mixed into the batter for shortcakes, although better with a peach shortcake than a strawberry one.

[hotoynoodle]

ginger and blueberries are terrific together.

the candied ginger would be great in blondies, or into the crust for a lemon curd tart.

[thursday]

My favorite use of candied ginger is with peaches - I just made peach turnovers this morning (store-bought puff pastry sheets - fill a sqaure with thin-sliced peaches, minced candied ginger and a large pinch of sugar, fold into triangles and bake at 400 for 20 minutes). I do the same thing as peach tarts when I accidentally overfill the squares (just put the whole square into individual tart pans and flop the corners towards the center. Turn the heat down to 350 after 20 minutes and cook another 10 minutes). Grilled peaches set atop crumbled almond biscotti or amaretti cookies, tossed with a little candied ginger and cinnamon, and served with a scoop of ice cream is also fantastic.

[shorty68]

That sounds really delicious. I have to try it.

[TooLooseLaTrek]

Candied ginger and amaretti cookies do make a delicious combo.Cinnamon sounds like a good addition to the mix.This past weekend I had Angel Food cake and grilled peaches and nectarines topped with whipped cream and chopped candied ginger and crumbled amaretti cookies.Very tasty.

[thew]

put on a stick adn use as a garnish in mixed drinks made with canton du domaine and/or ginger ale

[pobo]

We just did a blueberry tart with graham cracker crust - added candied ginger to the crust for a subtle taste sensation.

[LindaWhit]

Molasses cookies or gingersnaps (I have a triple gingersnap recipe at home, I think, that uses candied ginger, freshly grated ginger and powdered ground ginger)
Sprinkle it on yogurt
Chop some up finely and sprinkle into an apple pie
Chicken salad with celery, apples, walnuts

Those are what I can think of off the top of my head here at work (shhh, don't tell anyone <g>). I probably have several recipes at home in my MasterCook if you want me to check for any other ideas.

[Stuffed Monkey]

Ginger Scones
Ginger and dried pear scones
Chocolate Chip cookie.
Dipped in chocolate

[JoanN]

Ginger Scones are my absolute favorite. Here's a marvelous recipe from Nancy Silverton of the La Brea Bakery:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[Phoo_d]

Candied ginger would add interest to a black bean and ham dish, zucchini bread, or even a sticky barbeque sauce.

Phoo-d
http://www.phoo-d.com

[Niki in Dayton]

My best friend adores ginger, and frequently adds small bits of candied ginger in her oatmeal cookies. She also makes ginger creme brulee and tops it with candied ginger. It's good in homemade granola. How about adding some to pumpkin bread?

[Reduction Boy]

Way back in my days of Bachelor Eats, I used to matchstick a piece or two into long-grain rice.
I've also used slices as a gin/vodka tonic garnish.
Hope these are semi-helpful. :-)

[shorty68]

I never would have thought of adding candied ginger to rice.

[vinken]

great idea - i'll borrow it!