Peel and dice your fresh ginger. Boil and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes in water. Take off heat and throw in your fresh mint. Allow mint to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain. You should have approx. 1 c of ginger/mint infused water. If not, add a little water to make it equal.

While you wait for your ginger to infuse, pour powdered sugar onto a baking sheet. Find something to make your indentations with.

A pen, small bottle, toy…it really doesn’t matter as long as it’s mouth sized.

In a large saucepan, add infused liquid, sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Lower heat until you have a steady simmer. Keep a close eye on your pan while you bring the liquid to 290-300 degrees (hard crack). You know you’re good to go if you can drop a bit into a glass of water and it becomes hard, not chewy.

(Ok. Break. This is where I have to pause and tell you that I screwed up my first batch. I blame two things. One, my candy thermometer was off slightly and two, my tendency toward impatience. I should have tested my thermometer in just plain boiling water first (thermometer should read 100 C or 212 F) and I shouldn’t have left the kitchen to check my email. I highly suggest you Google “hard candy recipes” to get a better idea of how real cooks make hard candy and apply some of their hints to this recipe!)

Carefully spoon mixture into the powdered sugar molds. This was the best part, it’s crazy to see the liquid move over the sugar. Wait to cool completely before removing and wrapping with waxed paper.

If you’ll be gifting these, you can place them in an inexpensive small mason jar (found at most craft stores) and embellish with a meaningful scrapbook thingy (Yes, “thingy” is the official name of those). The recipient can either use them by themselves or pop a few in a hot cup of water for an easy herbal tea.