Spiced Ginger Caramel Bites Food

CARAMELIZED GINGER AND GINGERED CARAMEL

Steps:

• Caramelized Ginger: Cut a ginger root to fit into a plastic bowl with a lid.
• Cover the ginger root pieces in sherry.
• Let this sit until the ginger is fully soaked through with sherry, which can take a month or more.
• The ginger will be dark tan in color and firm and somewhat stringy in texture.
• It will be almost translucent.
• Remove the ginger root from the sherry and set the sherry aside for later.
• Cut the rind off of the ginger root and cut the inner portion into pieces about the size and thickness of 1/2 a dime.
• Put the small ginger pieces into a bowl and cover completely with sugar.
• I had about 1/4 cup of ginger and I put in about 3/4 cup of fine grained white sugar.
• Add back about 2 tablespoons of the sherry.
• The resulting mixture, with the ginger pieces in it, is a thickish but runny syrup.
• Put a mound of sugar (at least a cup) on a plate or in a small bowl and set it aside where you can reach it when you are standing at the stove.
• Cook the ginger/sugar/sherry mixture on the top of the stove until it boils but not until it darkens, (i. e., remove it from the heat before the sugar starts to burn).
• Stir a couple of times while the mixture is heating.
• Use a slotted spoon and remove the ginger pieces from the boiled liquid and plop them onto the sugar mound, keeping them separate from each other as much as possible.
• Spoon more granulated sugar over the top and let this sit for about 1 minute.
• Then stir the whole thing to coat the ginger with sugar.
• Let it sit for 5 minutes, then remove the ginger pieces and set them on a piece of baking paper to air dry.
• Gingered caramel: The boiled sherry/sugar stuff that's still in the pan can be boiled up again for about 30 seconds.
• Just as it starts to brown, remove it from the heat and add two or three tablespoons of butter.
• Let it cool for a few minutes and then pour the now very thick caramel onto more baking paper.
• This is fantastic caramel!
• Notes: This recipe starts with about 2 four inch pieces of ginger root and the yield is about 1/4 cup of caramelized ginger and about 1/3 cup of gingered caramel.
• I happened to have cooking sherry on hand so that is what I used.
• I had purchased two or three small (maybe 4 inches long) pieces of ginger root and I had not used them for anything.
• I had heard that you can soak your ginger in sherry to preserve it so I had cut the roots into 2 inch pieces, give or take, and covered them in sherry in a plastic bowl with a lid.
• I forgot about the ginger and it sat on my kitchen counter for 4 or 5 months.
• Possibly it would have been ready to caramelize a lot sooner than that but it was in perfect condition for this recipe after months of sitting.

GINGER TOFFEE BITES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Mix first flour, ginger, baking soda cinnamon and allspice together in medium bowl. Set aside.
• Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended, about 1-2 minutes. Add egg and molasses and beat until well blended, about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until blended. Mix in toffee and crystallized ginger. Chill dough 1 hour.
• After chilling, shape dough into 24 balls, each about 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Roll each dough ball in turbinado sugar, coating completely. Place balls on prepared sheet, spacing evenly apart.
• Bake cookies 8 minutes. Reverse cookie sheets and continue baking until cracked on top but still soft to touch, about 8 minutes longer. Cool cookies on sheets 5 minutes.
• Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to racks and cool completely.

SPICY GINGER SUNDAES WITH FIVE-SPICE CRISPS

Steps:

• Divide the ice cream between two bowls or sundae glasses. Top with the ginger caramel and coconut chips. Add the crisps to the edge of each bowl or glass and finish each with a dollop of whipped cream. Dive in.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and sambal and cook for a minute to release the flavor. Add the coconut sugar, cream and salt. Cook while whisking gently until thick and smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Use warm or cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Mix the sugar and five-spice powder together in a small bowl.
• Add the tortillas to a sheet pan and brush the tops with half of the melted butter. Sprinkle the tortillas with half of the sugar mixture. Flip and repeat with the remaining butter and sugar mixture.
• Bake until very crisp and golden, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Break apart and eat as a snack or with your favorite ice cream.

BITE-SIZE SALTED CARAMEL CHEESECAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Combine graham crumbs, brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. salt and butter; press onto bottoms of 24 paper-lined mini muffin cups.
• Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar in medium bowl with mixer until blended. Add egg; beat just until blended. Spoon into muffin cups, adding about 1 Tbsp. cream cheese batter to each.
• Bake 15 min. or until centers of cheesecakes are almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Place caramels in small heatproof bowl. Add milk and 1/4 tsp. of the remaining salt. Place over pan of boiling water, making sure boiling water does not touch bottom of bowl. Cook until caramels are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently.
• Drizzle about 1 tsp. caramel sauce over each cheesecake; sprinkle with remaining salt. Refrigerate 1 hour.

GARLIC BAT BITES

Steps:

• Combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper, and mix well.
• Form into 2" balls.
• Roll each ball in poppy seeds and black pepper.
• Chill cheese balls until ready to serve, at least 30 minutes.
• Just before serving, add 2 blue corn chips on either side of each ball to form the wings.

CARAMEL APPLE BITES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine filling ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened; set aside to cool. , In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Shape dough into 1-in. balls. Flatten and place 1/4 teaspoon filling in center of each. Fold dough over filling and reshape into balls. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. , Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. , In a small saucepan over low heat, heat caramels and evaporated milk until caramels are melted; stir until smooth. Insert a toothpick into each cookie and dip into caramel until completely coated; allow excess to drip off. Dip bottoms into nuts. Place on wire racks to set.