If you've never heard of Ginger Crunch, we're about to introduce you to one of New Zealand's best-loved bakes.

Ginger Crunch is a proper Kiwi slice.

A buttery, ginger-infused shortbread-style base. A generous layer of ginger icing. Just enough ginger to make itself known without taking over.

It's the sort of baking that appears on a plate when someone says, "Come over for a cuppa."

It's packed into lunchboxes, taken on picnics, made for school fundraisers, and cut into neat squares for visitors.

For generations of New Zealanders, Ginger Crunch isn't just something you bake.

It's something you remember.

So, what actually is Ginger Crunch?

At its heart, Ginger Crunch is wonderfully straightforward.

There's a buttery baked base, traditionally made with flour, sugar, butter and ground ginger.

Then there's the icing.

Sweet, buttery and gingery, with golden syrup traditionally playing an important role.

The base gives you the bake. The icing gives you the indulgence.

And together, they make something far more interesting than the short ingredient list would suggest.

A note for our American friends: what's golden syrup?

If you're from New Zealand, you're probably wondering why we're explaining this.

Fair enough.

But if you're in the United States, golden syrup may be completely new to you.

Golden syrup is a thick, amber-coloured cane-sugar syrup with a buttery, caramel-like flavour.

It isn't maple syrup, and it isn't American corn syrup. It has its own distinctive flavour and has been a staple ingredient in New Zealand and Australian baking for generations.

In Ginger Crunch, it does more than add sweetness. It gives the icing richness and helps keep it from setting completely hard.

Without syrup, the icing sets firmer, which some people prefer for packing and travelling. With golden syrup, you get that lovely little bit of softness.

Golden syrup is the traditional choice, although you'll also find versions made with maple syrup or honey.

But if you want that unmistakable Kiwi flavour? Golden syrup is the one.

The Ginger Crunch debate

Ask a group of Kiwis what makes the perfect Ginger Crunch and you'll quickly discover that everyone has an opinion.

Oats or no oats?

Coconut?

Candied ginger on top?

Thin base or thick?

Lots of icing or just enough?

Soft topping or firm?

More ginger?

Less ginger?

There are plenty of variations, and some are delicious.

But Ginger Crunch has changed over the years. Food historian Helen Leach has documented how modern versions have become increasingly generous, with thicker bases and much more icing than older versions.

For us, there's something wonderful about keeping it classic.

And then there's Edmonds

For Americans, think of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

Except ask a Kiwi about the Edmonds Cookery Book and you'll probably get a slightly more emotional response.

It wasn't just a cookbook. It was the cookbook.

It lived in kitchens, got covered in flour, had pages turned down and became part of family life.

Generations of New Zealanders learned to bake from Edmonds.

And Ginger Crunch became one of those recipes.

But here's the part many people don't know:

Edmonds didn't invent Ginger Crunch.

The recipe was already being made in New Zealand.

Ginger Crunch before Edmonds

The earliest printed New Zealand Ginger Crunch recipes currently identified go back to the 1940s.

One important example appears in the 1948 Hokitika Plunket Society Cookery Book, using dripping rather than butter.

Then, in 1952, the New Zealand Listener published a Ginger Crunch recipe and described recipes travelling around the country as new "finds."

One of those recipes was Ginger Crunch.

The recipe is unmistakable: a ginger-flavoured baked base topped with icing made with butter, icing sugar, ginger and golden syrup.

So Ginger Crunch wasn't suddenly born when Edmonds printed it.

It was already moving through New Zealand kitchens.

But where did it really come from?

Now we get to the part we find irresistible.

There is a very plausible Scottish connection.

The earliest New Zealand Ginger Crunch recipes have a shortbread-style base, and Scotland has a long tradition of both shortbread and crisp ginger biscuits.

There is even a Scottish recipe tradition known as Parlies, or Parliament Cakes, dating back to the 18th century: crisp, square ginger biscuits associated with Edinburgh. They don't have the distinctive Ginger Crunch icing, so they cannot be called the ancestor with certainty. But the resemblance is intriguing.

Then consider New Zealand's history.

Large numbers of Scottish immigrants came to New Zealand during the 19th century, with particularly strong Scottish settlement in the South Island. Dunedin itself was named for Edinburgh, and Scottish culture became deeply embedded in the region.

Put those pieces together, and you have a compelling theory:

Perhaps Ginger Crunch evolved from Scottish baking traditions brought to New Zealand by Scottish immigrants, eventually becoming something distinctly Kiwi.

We think that's a fascinating possibility.

But we want to be careful with the word perhaps.

What the evidence does tell us is that Scottish baking traditions provide a plausible background, while the earliest documented versions of Ginger Crunch itself are New Zealand recipes from the 1940s.

And by the 1950s, it was unmistakably part of Kiwi baking.

Why we love ours

That's exactly what we wanted to capture with the Secret Kiwi Kitchen Ginger Crunch Slice Mix.

Classic Kiwi Ginger Crunch, made with ingredients we're proud of.

New Zealand non-GMO wheat flour, real ginger, Chelsea sugar and Marlborough Sounds sun-dried sea salt, with the tiniest hint of cinnamon to give it that little something extra.

Chelsea has been part of New Zealand baking for more than 140 years, with the original Chelsea sugar refinery opening in Auckland in 1884. It has been a Kiwi pantry staple ever since.

So when we put Chelsea sugar into a classic Kiwi slice, there's something rather lovely about it: ingredients with their own New Zealand history coming together in one very Kiwi bake.

A little taste of New Zealand, wherever you are.

The Story Behind Ginger Crunch

What the historical record actually tells us

We love a good food story, but we also think food history is worth getting right.

So here is the evidence behind the Ginger Crunch story.

1948: A Ginger Crunch recipe appears in the Hokitika Plunket Society Cookery Book, using dripping rather than butter.

1952: The New Zealand Listener publishes a Ginger Crunch recipe and describes recipes such as Ginger Crunch spreading around the country as new "finds." The recipe includes the familiar ginger base and golden-syrup icing.

1955: Ginger Crunch appears in the Edmonds Cookery Book and becomes associated with the cookbook that would help make it a national home-baking classic.

Later decades: Ginger Crunch evolves. Modern versions often have thicker bases, much more icing and additional ingredients such as oats or coconut. Helen Leach has documented this shift from the older style.

Sources

• New Zealand Listener, 22 August 1952, “Biscuits—Crisp and Eggless,” National Library of New Zealand / Papers Past.

• Foodlovers, “How to Make Perfect Ginger Crunch,” including research into early New Zealand community cookbook recipes.

• The Great Kiwi Baking Blog, “Slice Week: Learning About Ginger Crunch,” drawing on research and commentary from food historian Helen Leach.

• RNZ, “Are Kiwi slices getting out of control?”, featuring Helen Leach's discussion of the evolution of Ginger Crunch and other New Zealand slices.

• Te Papa Tongarewa, “Matariki Kai: Ginger Crunch,” documenting Ginger Crunch as a New Zealand whānau food and its role in intergenerational food traditions.

• Edmonds Cooking, “Ginger Crunch,” for the classic Edmonds recipe and method.

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About Secret Kiwi Kitchen 

Secret Kiwi Kitchen is an award-winning New Zealand food company founded by Lauren Lulu Taylor, an American-born entrepreneur who discovered a passion for New Zealand's exceptional ingredients after making New Zealand her home. Inspired by the country's world-class dairy, non-GMO wheat, and clean pantry staples, Lulu created Secret Kiwi Kitchen to showcase the very best of New Zealand through beautifully crafted baking mixes, edible flowers, spice blends, and pantry favourites.

Today, Secret Kiwi Kitchen products are sold throughout New Zealand and are now available across the United States through the company's California warehouse. Known for premium ingredients, award-winning recipes, and botanical packaging inspired by the work of New Zealand women botanical artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Secret Kiwi Kitchen is on a mission to bring a little piece of New Zealand to kitchens around the world.