Cuisine – Sweet treats

One of my duties as a part-time housewife is making everyone’s lunch. It is not by any means the most riveting job, but it does require an element of creativity. Lately, I have been playing with sweet treats. Everyone in my house loves sweets, especially the baked kind. I have overdone scones, cupcakes and banana loaf, so I have been forced to think of something new to bake. Last week, I opened my cupboard to brainstorm and the first thing that caught my eye was a big packet of ground ginger. Now what could be a nicer treat to find your lunchbox than a chunky finger of homemade ginger crunch? Mmmmmmmm.

Ginger Crunch Fingers

For the base:
115g sugar
200g plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp baking powder
115g butter
For the icing:
55g butter
1tbsp golden syrup
2 tsp ground ginger
55g icing sugar

To prepare, preheat your oven to bake at 180C. Line a shallow 30cm x 20cm tin with baking paper. Throw all of your dry ‘base’ ingredients into a food processor and quickly pulse to combine. Add the 115g of butter and pulse again until the mixture forms fine breadcrumbs. Pour the crumbs in to your prepared tin. Spread the crumbs out evenly and compact with your fingers, this way the base will stick together adequately during the baking process. We are after a Ginger Crunch not a Ginger Crumble!

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the base is a nice golden brown. While your base is cooking, you can prepare the icing. Place your 55g of butter in a saucepan along with the golden syrup and ginger, stirring whilst heating gently. When the mixture is melted, sift in the icing sugar and mix. Remove the golden base from the oven and immediately pour the runny icing over the top of it. Use a spatula to distribute the icing evenly. Cut the crunch in to fingers and leave to cool in the tin. When it is completely cooled, break the fingers along the cuts you have made and store in an airtight container.

Nicola Bolton
rosierambino@outlook.com