What is Gingernut🔗

I got to know Gingernut, and by extension the Empire of Arnott, during last trip to Australia. It's recommended by A as his S-tier biscuit. As a ginger lover myself, it's not too hard to get me hyped about it. In my first try, I tasted it plain. My verdict was it's very gingery, in a nice way, but also very hard, not in a bad way, just different from what you'd expect texture-wise from normal biscuit. Then, A's parents told me that you are supposed to dunk Gingernut in tea to soften it. Mmm. So it's a drink companion biscuit.

To further explore the possibilities of Gingernut, I brought two packets home, along with some other Arnott's. At the beginning, our routine was dunking those biscuits in milk during our milk time. Admittedly, all biscuits can be bumped up one tier or two after dunking in milk. Gingernut is no exception. It's a perfect milk companion. Due to its hard texture, usually dunking 10-15s yields optimal experience, biscuit still holding shape yet fully soaked with milk. The intense ginger flavor gets mellowed out by milk. At the same time, milk trapped in biscuit gets flavored with ginger. It's such a fun and fine milk time.

Inspired by the milk time experience, I invented the following two Gingernut-spinoff of classic Italian desserts. They are

1. easy to put together
2. unique and interesting in flavor
3. impressive in creativity

The key in using Gingernut in dessert is to surround the biscuit with dairy moisture long enough that it soaks up all the goodness from dairy. Sounds familiar? It's exactly why dunking Gingernut in milk makes milk time better. The same principal carries to the following applications. After reading this blog, you'd find Gingernut goes away really fast!

Black Sesame Gingernut Tiramisu🔗

In my opinion, black sesame and ginger are the best oriental duo. Both are very common and popular Asian dessert flavor. Their synergy cannot be underestimated. Nutty black sesame and spicy ginger are meant for each other. That's how I got inspired to create this Tiramisu from the east.

For those who doesn't like coffee, matcha tiramisu with say white chocolate is probably a good alternative. Still having the gist of some caffeinated strong brew to soak lady finger in and some creamy sweet dairy to complement with. But then open up your mind to consider the much more creative combo like black sesame and ginger.

Bloom black sesame in either water or even better milk. Let lady finger soak in the nutty earthy black sesame "(milk) tea". Layer of mascarpone as normal. Followed by semi-softened Gingernut biscuit (soak in milk for 5s). The reason for half soaking here is to leave room for the moisure from mascarpone and black seasme lady finger as the whole cake sits in the fridge. Eventually all flavors get to know each other and become a symphony in your mouth. Don't forget to cover the top with crushed Gingernut to win a chef's kiss.

Lemon Gingernut Panna Cotta🔗

Tell me the pairing for ginger that first come to your mind. That's right, it's probably your most common non-caffeinated tea bag, lemon ginger. Let's marry lemon and ginger in the form of Panna Cotta. It's probably the highest on the index of impressiveness to effort ratio.

First of all, for optimal presentation and enjoyment, it's better to have clear glass/jar for serving. If not, mug/bowl works too, just not as visually pleasing.

The recipe below is based on one stardard packet of gelatin. It yields 6 servings. You can scale up if having enough serving containers.

• 1 packet of gelatin
• 900ml of total dairy (3:1 milk to cream is enough to have creamy texture, of course there is no harm in bumping up cream to 2:1)
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 30g sugar (amount to taste, here you won't taste any sweetness from pudding itself. But it contrasts the sweetness from Gingernut well.)
• 12 Gingernut biscuits (2 per serving)
• 1 spoonful of milk powder (optional)

The procedure is standard, with the addition of placement of Gingernut

1. Zest lemon. Mix zest with suger
2. Juice lemon. Set aside
3. Bloom gelatin (optionally with milk powder) in cold water. Set aside
4. Add sugar to milk/cream mixture and heat to 160F. Stir occasionally
5. Heat off. Add bloomed gelatin (now should be like jello) to milk. Stir immediately (should dissolve instantaneously)
6. Add lemon juice to the whole mixture
7. Place 1 Gingernut at the bottom of each serving container
8. Divide the whole mixture into 6 serving containers (each should have roughly 150ml). May need to press biscuit down for couple of second in case it floats up to top
9. Before serving, place anothe biscuit on top and pour as much milk as you desire to drink. Wait for 20s to let biscuit be fully soaked with milk. Drink the milk and enjoy the Panna Cotta.