http://www.care2.com/greenliving/give-honey-love.html
Give Honey Love
By Melissa Breyer, Producer, Care2 Green Living
It’s hard to improve upon the perfection of honey—the darling of edibles. But perfect as it may be, playing around with infusions of flavor can result in some significant deliciousness. And what great gifts flavored honeys make! Read on to learn how to make warming spice honey, tart fig honey, rose petal honey, and more.
WARMING SPICE HONEY
1 cup honey
3 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon whole cloves
3 pieces star anise
6 cardamom pods
1. Bring honey and spices to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for five minutes.
2. Remove from heat and let sit for up to 24 hours.
3. Reheat, strain and cool.
ROSE PETAL HONEY
Use fresh rose petals, but be absolutely sure that the flowers have not been treated with pesiticide. You can also try this recipe with dried lavender flowers—use 2 tablespoons dried lavender buds in place of the rose petals.
1 cup honey
½ cup fresh rose petals
1. Bring honey to a boil, remove from heat and stir in rose petals.
2. Let sit for four hours, return to a boil, then strain and cool.
GINGER LIME HONEY
1 cup honey
8 slices fresh ginger
2 limes, zest only
1. Bring all ingredients just to a boil in a small saucepan, then reduce heat to low and simmer for five minutes.
2. Remove from heat and let sit for ten minutes. Strain and cool.
TART FIG HONEY
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup honey
2 cups dried figs, quartered
1. Combine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat, cool, and strain.
HOT PEPPER HONEY
1 cup honey
2 jalapenos, quartered, or 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1. Combine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat, cool, and strain.
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10 comments
add your comment »Same message from a beekeeper's wife : don't heat honey if you want to benefit from its natural properties
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I agree with the comments of the Aurora. The idea of flavoured honey for a gift is a lovely one and the recipes are nice too. I don't come from any specific tradition other that of a lover of honey and a good understanding of food but the thought of boiling honey does seem to go against the grain a little. Better to just mix in the herbs/spices and let it sit.. give it for next Christmas instead. Or else boil the spices etc in just a small amount of honey, cool strain and then mix this with the rest..
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Megan, most of the time i just leave the herbs in there, as long as there is enough honey in the jar to cover the herbs. If there isn't, i get the herbs out (messy work ;) )
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Eva V,
Do you remove the spices after or can they be left in?
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something you can do instead of heating the honey, is putting the spices/herbs in a pot together with the honey and let it sit for a couple of days or weeks. The honey will take the flavor of the spices, without the need of heating it.
i've done this with thyme, it make a really good cough syrup.
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why would you distroy the flavor of honey by adding junk to it. Get the honey from your local farmer and you'll never mess up the flavors again. Ask for filtered only, never heated honey. from a bee keeper
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If you're buying your flowers to eat, remember to always make sure and ask for certified organic ones. Otherwise your beautiful flowers will be raised in pesticides, which are so harmful to the earth.
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Can't live without the Tree's and the Bee's!
Peace all
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Thank you for the delicious idea! But I would like to make one important observation: according to Ayurveda, it is not recommended to heat up honey. Raw honey has very beneficial healing properties while cooked honey cloggs the channels and blocks the proper flow. In an experiment described in Dr. Michael Schmidt's book "Healing Childhood Ear Infections", beekeepers who routinely spray honey-water on beehives to calm the bees used cooked honey instead, and all bees died within 20 minutes. So to create such delicious gifts as above, I would recommend the use of essential oils instead, which can be stirred in very small quantities into the raw honey without heating. Possible oils would correspond to the spices in the recipes above (cinnamon, cloves, anise, cardamom, rose and ginger), but there are others, like coriander, grapefruit, orange, peppermint, lemongrass, tangerine or vanilla that could combine well with the honey. I haven't tried them out yet, but I will! Thank you again for the gift idea!
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heres another idea, try mixing honey with bee pollen (available in health food stores), use a blender to combine thoroughly. very nutritious and delicious!
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