edmonds ginger crunch

edmonds ginger crunch

• 28 Jan 2013

I've always liked ginger and if you look back through the blog you'll notice my quest for the perfect ginger biscuit. You'll also know I really like David Lebovitz so when he mentioned ginger crunch on his blog a few weeks ago, I had to give it a try. It's a traditional New Zealand recipe, one I'd not tried before. Would it be my perfect ginger biscuit?



I found 2 recipes for Ginger Crunch on the internet and when I looked in my pantry I had all the ingredients for both. I made a half batch of each recipe, purely for research purposes of course!



I'll share the classic New Zealand Edmonds Cookery Book recipe with you today but if you come back in another few days I'll share the other recipe with you. I thought the quantity of icing seemed a bit meagre, so I doubled up on the icing. Please note, you have to follow the instructions exactly. When it says to cut the crunch into squares while still warm, please take that advice. I was distracted and by the time I cut the crunch, it was cold and so crunchy it tended to shatter. That's okay though because the shattered pieces are for the cook.



Here's the recipe for you.
Edmonds Ginger Crunch
Cookie base
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (100 gms) caster sugar
1½ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons ground dried ginger

Icing (this is double the original quantity)
150 gms unsalted butter
4 tablespoons golden syrup
1½ cups icing sugar
1 tablespoon ground dried ginger

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Line a 20 x 30 cm slice tin with baking paper.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and 1½ teaspoons ginger. In a small bowl or using a food processor, cream the butter with the sugar until very light and fluffy. Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture until well-combined. The texture will be like sand.


Press the dough into the prepared pan and flatten the surface. Bake for 20 minutes or until its light golden brown. Five minutes before the base is cooked, make the icing by heating the butter and golden syrup in a small pan, then mix in the icing sugar and ginger, stirring until smooth.


Pour the warm icing over the hot base and spread evenly. Let the slice sit for about 20 to 30 minutes, then remove from the pan and slice while still slightly warm.

The biscuits are sweet, crunchy, gingery and addictive. I gave a piece of Ginger Crunch to Kerry, one of my Kiwi patients, who said it tasted just like his Grandma used to make and you can't get better than that.

I'm back home from a very soggy weekend in Brisbane. I hope all my QLD readers haven't been too badly affected by the weekend storms.

See you all again on Wednesday.

Jillian