Ginger crunch bars and favorite parts of songs

There are songs I adore as a whole, but certain parts of them I deeply love: the first seconds of “This Charming Man” and “You Surround Me”, or the very ending of “One Headlight”, for instance.

The same happens with these bars: I liked them as a whole – and you will too, especially if you do not overbake the base as I did – but the ginger icing is especially good. Actually, after spreading the icing over the shortbread I licked the spatula so eagerly I burned my tongue. :S

Ginger crunch bars
from Donna Hay magazine

Base:
2 2/3 cups (374g) all purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
2 teaspoons ground ginger, sifted
1 cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (218g) caster sugar
250g cold unsalted butter, chopped

Ginger icing:
150g unsalted butter, chopped
¼ cup corn syrup
1 ½ tablespoons ground ginger, sifted
1 2/3 cups (234g) icing sugar, sifted

Make the base: preheat the oven to 180°/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) pan, line with foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Butter the foil, but not the overhangs.
Place the flour, baking powder, ginger and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process in short bursts to combine*. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs – the base will be crumbly when you press it into the pan, but will come together as the butter melts in the oven. Press into the base of the prepared pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden and firm to touch. Set aside to cool completely.
Now, the icing: place the butter, corn syrup and ginger in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for 2-3 minutes or until butter is melted. Add the icing sugar and whisk to combine. Pour icing over base and refrigerate for 1 hour or until set. Carefully lift up the ends of the foil liner, and transfer to a cutting board. Cut in bars with a sharp knife.

* I made 2/3 of the recipe and used a 20cm (8in) square pan; when I made the base, the food processor was pretty full, but processed it normally

Makes 20