Methods/steps

Peel, slice and dice the ginger—slicing it against the grain first, to cut the fibrous threads that run through ginger. Put the ginger into a medium-size glass bowl. Heat the cream just to the boiling point on the stove. Pour the cream over the ginger, then cover and set aside to steep for at least 30 minutes. Return the ginger and cream to the pan to reheat just enough to bring the cream to a boil. Chop the chocolate and put 8 ounces of it into a medium-size bowl. Reserve the remaining 2 ounces of chocolate in a separate dish. Pour the cream through a strainer onto the 8 ounces of chocolate.

(Alternatively, the cream can be heated in a microwave.)

For the Chocolate Ginger Crunch, place the ginger from the strainer back into the (still warm) pan it was in, and add the remaining 2 ounces of chocolate. The residual heat from the pan and the ginger should melt the chocolate. Set this aside for a moment.

For the icing, stir the cream and chocolate until it is perfectly smooth and set it aside, stirring occasionally as it cools. It will take 2 to 4 hours to cool completely at room temperature.

Returning to the chocolate and ginger, stir it until the chocolate is completely melted, then drop teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Refrigerate to set. Wrap each piece individually and refrigerate for up to a week.