Introduction
This guide to recipes for honey and bee products aims to help honey producers and those in the sector transform their honey and products such as wax, into more products.
Measurements 1 CUP = 250 ml ½ cup = 125 ml 1/3 cup = 80 ml 1/4 cup = 40 ml 2 tomato tins = 1 cup
Storing honey
Honey contains moisture and has acids that make it corrosive and contains bacteria that if it comes into contact with water, may start fermenting. Cleanliness and hygienic storage if absolutely necessary to prevent honey fermenting or growing “bad” bacteria that could cause stomach problems and illness! So, always store in clean plastic or glass, not in steel (ie tin cans) or aluminum containers.
Sweetener and sugar substitute
Honey can be used as a natural substitute for sugar in most recipes but as it is sweeter than sugar, less is needed. Cooking with honey differs from cooking with sugar. Replacing sugar with honey in baking will result in cakes that remain moist for longer. Honey is hygroscopic, which means it absorbs moisture and as almost one fifth of honey is water, the liquid content of a recipe should be reduced by the same amount. As honey tastes ‘sweeter’ than sugar does, the general advice is to use one quantity of honey to replace one-and-one-quarter quantities of sugar.
When used in a marinade, honey will help tenderize meat and while it is cooking, the honey gives a distinctive flavor to food as it caramelizes.
Meat
Spicy Lime and Honey Marinade
Preparation time less than 30 mins Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour Ingredients:
Chickens
Pinch salt
½ cup 125ml/4½fl oz lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed (alternatively if you are serving this for adults, use 5 garlic cloves)
2 limes, juice only
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp clear honey
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp chopped 1/3 cup / 90g honey
Lemon wedges (to serve)
Directions
Mix together all of the above ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Place the chicken wings in a baking dish, sprinkle with the salt then roast for 30 minutes.
Place the lemon juice, garlic and honey in a small bowl and stir until the honey has dissolved.
Pour over the chicken wings and stir until well coated.
Cook for another 20 minutes.
Serve with lemon wedges.
Criss-Cross Peanut & Honey Biscuits
Preparation time less than 30 mins, Cooking time 10 mins
Ingredients
1 cup honey
1 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups flour, sieved
2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 teaspoon slat
Directions
Cream
margarine, honey, eggs and vanilla together. Stir in the peanut butter;
soft the flour, salt
and soda. Stir creamed mixture into dry ingredients. With a spoon, drop
mixture onto an ungreased baking sheet with a spoon; press mixture with
back of a fork to make criss-crosses. Bake
in oven 180C/350F for 10 minutes till a golden brown.