I made the Soft Ginger cookies today, and they came out wonderfully. However, I had trouble making the ginger syrup. I followed the directions for slicing the ginger, adding the water and sugar, and bringing it to a boil. I inserted a candy thermometer and waited until it reached the required temperature, which in my case took only about 10 minutes, far less than the 45-60 minutes called for in the recipe. I even double checked the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. I removed it from the heat, strained it in a sieve, and had a nice thick clear syrup. I left it on the counter in a glass measuring cup. Within about 10 minutes, it began to crystalize. Within about 1/2 hour, it had solidified into a pale beige, opaque mass. I was able to soften it by sitting the glass cup in a pan of boiling water, but it remained opaque and grainy so I threw it out. What did I do wrong?

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