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Hard candy.

Submitted by Blog - Henriette on 26 June, 2006 - 10:00
Botanical name: 
Zingiber officinale
Preparations: 
Syrups
Sweets

Somebody asked for ginger candy recipes on the herblist.

And, well, I've made hard candies by making a syrup, letting it simmer until the hard candy stage (or whatever it's called), and pouring the result onto baking paper. If the liquid is thick enough it'll harden into candies; if it's not thick enough the bottom and top parts will harden into crystallized syrup, and the middle bit will be a sticky sugary mess.

Here's my recipe:

  • 40 g fresh herb
  • 1 l water
  • bring to a boil, let boil 20-30 minutes
  • strain out the herb
  • let the liquid simmer until only 2 dl is left
  • add 450 g sugar
  • dissolve sugar while stirring
  • let simmer on low heat while stirring until a drop of the syrup stays together all the way to the bottom of a glass of cold water (that's the hard candy stage)
  • let simmer for 5-10 minutes more while stirring, just to make sure that the liquid is thick enough
  • pour in a thin (as in about 5 mm thick) layer onto baking paper. Use the sort of paper that won't irrevocably bond with whatever you pour onto it, it's easier in the long run.

    • Somewhere somebody said long ago that you can pre-cut this liquid into regular candy shapes before it's hardened. Ahhahhah what a joke ... or, if anybody here has managed this amazing feat let me know what sorts of tricks you used. Things get messy if you take a knife to the not-yet-hard candy. And the candy gets ugly. Think "broken-off bits of crystallized top and bottom parts sticking out of a thick sugary goo" -- yes, that's the picture.

    No, what I do is, wait until the candy is completely hard, then break it into bits.

    Ginger candy, I'd possibly add either lemon (or citric acid) or peppermint to that. Or cinnamon, or ...

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