Cheeky Pink Tulip: honey

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Fall with Honey

Mix some honey into your autumn.

I've had loads of National Honey Board emails come my way since I last posted about honey and I'd like to share with you some of my favourite recipes from those emails. Watering mouths at the ready...

All credit for pictures and words go to the National Honey Board.

HARVEST PUMPKIN MUFFINS

(makes 12 muffins)

Start your day off right with these delicious muffins sweetened with honey. Honey acts as a humectant and retains moisture in baked goods, which results in an incredibly soft, moist muffin. And because of its antimicrobial properties, honey gives baked goods a slightly longer shelf life. Who knew one ingredient had so much functionality?

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until light; beat in honey, egg and pumpkin. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until just blended; stir in walnuts. Spoon into 12 greased or paper-lined 2-1/2 inch muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

HONEY ICED TEA

(makes 10 servings)

There’s nothing more refreshing than a glass of iced tea, especially when it’s sweetened with honey! Because honey is 17% water, it dissolves quickly and easily in most beverages. Plus, since honey is slightly sweeter than granulated sugar, you can use less honey to achieve the same level of sweetness.

1 quart boiling water
12 tea bags
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup honey
1 quart cold water
Mint sprigs, if desired

Add tea bags to boiling water and allow to steep 3 to 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and add lemon juice and honey. Stir to combine. Add cold water and refrigerate. Pour over ice cubes in tall glasses. Garnish with mint if desired.

HONEY MACAROON DESSERT PIZZA

(makes 6 servings)

This is a terrific dessert to make with your kids – easy (and fun!) to make, loaded with fresh fruit and kissed with honey’s sweetness. To see a video demonstration of this recipe, visit our YouTube Channel here!

1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup honey
1 tube (10 oz.) refrigerated pizza dough
1/2 Tablespoon butter, softened
1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut, lightly packed
1/4 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
Whipped cream, for garnish
Fresh fruit, such as berries, for garnish
Mint sprigs, for garnish

Whisk together cream and honey. Reduce over medium low heat by about 1/3, until mixture thickens and develops a light caramel color. Reserve. Shape pizza dough according to package directions. Spread butter over pizza shell. Sprinkle with coconut and almonds. Drizzle with reserved cup honey mixture; spread gently with a rubber spatula shell. Bake at 450° F until crust is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool to warm or room temperature. Cut into 6 wedges. Garnish with whipped cream, fruit, and mint sprigs.

SMOKED HONEY ICE CREAM

(makes 1 1/2 - 2 cups)

If you want to make a fancy, melt-in-your-mouth (literally) dessert for your friends, this is the recipe for you. The smoked honey gives this sweetener an even deeper flavor profile while also giving the ice cream a smoother mouthfeel. Ice creams using honey generally have a lower freezing temperature, which results in an ice cream free of grainy ice crystals.

5 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 vanilla bean, split
1/3 cup smoked honey, or to taste*

To prepare ice cream base, beat eggs and sugar together in a bowl; reserve. Combine milk and heavy cream in a saucepan; scrape vanilla seeds into mixture, then add whole vanilla bean. Bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to low. Temper egg mixture with a little of the hot liquid. Slowly whisk tempered egg mixture into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Cool. Remove vanilla bean. Pour ice cream base into ice cream maker, following manufacturer’s instructions for freezing. Add smoked honey after the mixture begins to thicken. Notes: Yield will depend upon the amount of air a particular ice cream maker incorporates into the ice cream. *Smoke honey over pecan chips at a low temperature for about 1-1/2 hours.

HONEY BERRY WAFFLE SANDWICH

(makes 4 servings)

1-1/2 cups fresh berries, divided *
1 Tablespoon butter
1/3 cup honey
8 frozen waffles, toasted

Purée 1/2 cup berries in a blender or food processor; set aside. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add honey and bring to a boil; simmer 2 to 3 minutes, then add berry purée. Continue to simmer 2 to 3 minutes more until syrup thickens slightly. Set honey syrup aside and keep warm. For each serving, place 2 waffles on plate. Top one waffle with 1/4 cup fresh berries. Drizzle with 1/4 of syrup and top sandwich with remaining waffle. *Raspberries, strawberries and blueberries work well.

*****

Have a cocktail, honey!

Easy on the gin.

I'm not one to reblog, and especially not on my fourth post, but I was sent this email from the National Honey Board with a list of beautiful and refreshing summer cocktails made with honey. They look and sound absolutely divine so I had to share them with you all...

Bee's Knees Cocktail

From Chef Ricardo Zarate (makes 1 drink)

Bee's Knees Cocktail

1 tablespoon honey
1/2 jigger gin
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

Note: the orange juice is optional. Bars in Los Angeles and New York that serve the Bee's Knees omit it.

Combine all the ingredients and shake well with ice. Strain into a glass

Note: when made as directed, the honey often forms into a giant ball in the middle of the shaker. To avoid this, combine three parts honey to one part water and stir together until completely mixed, then continue with the recipe.

Honey Mango Margarita

Makes 1 beverage

Honey Mango Margarita

1-1/4 oz. gold tequila
2 oz. margarita mix
1/2 fresh ripe mango**
2 oz. Honey Simple Syrup
1 scoop crushed ice

Sugar rim glass. Combine ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. 881 oz. Monin Mango syrup can be substituted for fresh mango.

Honey Simple Syrup: Mix 4 parts honey to 1 part hot water in a store n pour. Or alternatively, use a covered container that is convenient to pour from.

Honey Mint Juleps

Makes 14 servings

1 cup water
1 1/2 cups mint leaves
1 cup honey
3 1/2 cups bourbon
Crushed ice
Mint sprigs, for garnish

In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add mint leaves; stir until wilted. Add honey; stir until dissolved. Let mixture stand until cool. Strain and discard mint. For each julep, combine 1/4 cup bourbon with 2 tbsp. honey mint syrup. Pour bourbon mixture over crushed ice in frosted tumbler or tall glass. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Mandarin Blossom

Makes 1 beverage

Mandarin Blossom

1 oz. Honey Simple Syrup
3 oz. fresh sour
1 1/2 oz. Absolut mandarin
2 tablespoons egg white for froth

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a cinnamon-sugar rimmed martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist. Cinnamon sugar is a blend of super fine sugar and just enough cinnamon to give a light brown colour.

Enjoy and Happy Summer!

Plight of the Honeybee

They’re disappearing…

I’ve been thinking long and hard about what my first post should be. Seeing as spring is finally in full swing here in Athens, I thought it most appropriate to talk about my passion for all things bee. I always thought when I’d move back home I’d set up my own hive in my back yard and make my very own honey – urban style. And now I’m home. Spring is here and the bees are out.

I became a little obsessed with honeybees after visiting the absolutely charming Hive Honey Shop on Northcote Road over a year go. The shop sells honey and honey products from all over the world as well as from their own hive in residential Wandsworth. I never knew how common urban hives were! Their Wandsworth honey is positively divine and the reason for urban honey being so good is the variety of flowers on offer thanks to the numerous parks, gardens, wasteland etc in London and of course, most cities. You can read more about the rise in beekeeping in London here.

However, I wasn’t aware until now how endangered bees are and indeed how important they are to our every day lives. I ordered a bunch of books from Amazon and I even signed up to attend a beekeeping course via Urban Bees in Battersea, London. I wanted to help the bees.

They really are quite the irresistible things – they help to pollinate beautiful flowers, fruits and vegetables and they make a gorgeous natural sweetener which is both beautiful in taste and colour (not to mention it’s health and beauty benefits). As a by-product of the honey-making process, beeswax is used for numerous things not least of all to make gorgeous pure candles. And last but not least, bees live an admirably disciplined and hardworking life, one which we could all learn from.

What’s not to love? Next time you see a bee, put the folded newspaper away and take a moment to stop and appreciate its beauty, its skill and its hard-working nature…

I’ll keep you posted on how I get on with making like a bee and getting busy setting up my own hive.

Books about Honey & Bees

The Hive: The Story of the Honeybee and Us by Bee Wilson

I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone whether they’re interested in bees or not. It is thoroughly fascinating in the way it chronicles how bees and honey have influenced human life in the areas of work, sex, politics, food & drink, and life & death through the ages. Very easy to read and dip in and out of, but it will keep you hooked with it’s charming illustrations and photos and the author’s passionate foodie voice shining through.

Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey –The Sweet Liquid Gold That Seduced the World by Holly Bishop

Honeybee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley

The Wisdom of Bees: What the Hive Can Teach Business About Leadership, Efficiency and Growth by Michael O'Malley

A World Without Bees by Allison Benjamin & Brian McCallum

**They have a bee-keeping course available in Battersea. Visit the link here for more info

Books on how to set up your own hive

Beekeeping: Inspiration and practical advice for would-be small holders by Andrew Davies

Collin's Beekeeper's Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes and Other Home Uses by Philip Et Al McCabe

Guide to Bees and Honey: The Best Selling Guide to Beekeeping by Ted Hooper

Meditation and the Art of Beekeeping by Mark Magill

The Bad Beekeeper’s Club: How I stumbled into the curious world of bees and became (perhaps) a better person by Bill Turnbull

Resources in the UK and US to learn more about bees and to attend beekeeping classes

Urban Bees

The Honey Association