A Variety of Honey Recipes

If you're wondering why would someone have so many honey recipes; the answer is "I don't know." I only know that collecting recipes and writing them down runs around in my genetic code. My writing things down started when I was a child and I would spend hours copying words down. I think that somehow it was relaxing and helped me "sort things out." Who knows. Anyway when I graduated to copying recipes down--it seemed to take on a life of its own and now I can't seem to stop. I hope you like them.

Baking with honey: 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar equals 1 cup of honey and a reduction by 1/4 cup of whatever liquid is called for in the recipe.

Walnut Raisin Spice Cake: 1 1/2 cups raisins; 1 1/2 cups walnuts; 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda; 1 1/4 cup boiling water; 2 1/4 cups flour; 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon; 1/4 tsp. salt; 3/4 cup butter; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 eggs; 2 egg yolks; 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice; 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla; 1/2 cup honey. Frosting: 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened; 2/3 cup butter, softened; 3 tsp. vanilla; 1 1/2 lb. powdered sugar. Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour three 8 inch cake layer pans. Chop fine raisins and 1 cup walnuts. Place in a bowl. Add baking soda; then stir in boiling water. Let mixture cool for 1/2 hour. Stir flour with cinnamon and salt. In large bowl with electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar, a little at a time. Add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time. Add honey. Beat after each addition and scrape down sides of bowl. Beat. Add lemon juice and 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla. With wooden spoon, beat in 1/4 flour mixture alternately with nut mixture in thirds, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pans. Place in oven, leaving space between pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until top springs back until lightly pressed with fingertip and cake pulls away from edge. Turn out on wire rack; turn top up; let cool completely - about 1 hour. Make frosting: In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cheese with butter and vanilla until creamy. Add the powdered sugar; beat. Using 1 1/2 cups frosting, put layers together. Use rest of frosting to cover tops and sides of cake. With spatula, make decorative swirls in frosting; coarsely chop remaining walnuts; sprinkle around the top. Refrigerate until serving.

Apple-Butter Cake: 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour; 1 1 /2 tsp. baking soda; 1 tsp. cinnamon; 1/2 tsp. nutmeg; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1/2 cup butter, softened; 1/2 cup honey; 4 eggs; 3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk; 1 1/2 cups apple butter; powdered sugar. Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch cake pan. Sift flour with baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside. In the large bowl of your mixer, at high speed, beat butter, honey and eggs until well mixed. At low speed, beat in flour mixture (in fourths) alternately with buttermilk (in thirds); beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir in applebutter; mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake 50 minutes or until it test done. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool thoroughly on wire rack. To serve, cut into 12 squares; sprinkle with powdered sugar. (I don't remove from the pan. I just let it cool in the pan on a wire rack.)

Breads, cookies, rolls and buns will stay moist loner when honey is used.

Honey Jumbles Candy: 1/2 cup butter, softened; 1/2 cup light brown sugar; 1 egg; 1/2 cup honey; 1/4 cup orange juice; 2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour; 1 tsp. double acting baking powder; 1 tsp. grated orange zest; 1/2 tsp. baking soda/ 1/2 tsp. salt; 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/2 cup raisins; 1 cup sunflower kernels (shelled seeds); 1/4 cup wheat germ. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 large cookie sheets; set aside. In mixing bowl with mixer at medium speed, cream butter, sugar and egg until well mixed. Add honey and orange juice, mix well. In separate bowl mix flour, baking powder, orange zest, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls 1 inch apart on cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Honey Kisses Candy: 1 lb. brown sugar, 1 cup honey; 1 cup cream; 1/2 cube real butter; pinch of salt. Mix and cook in saucepan until it is 284 degrees or to the soft crack stage. Pour on buttered cookie sheet to cool enough to handle. Pull like taffy. Twist in ropes and cut with scissors. Wrap in wax paper.

Honey Caramels: 2 cups sugar; 2 cups honey; dash salt; 1/2 cup butter; 1 cup evaporated milk. Cook sugar, honey and salt rapidly to hard ball stage (250 degrees). Add butter and milk, gradually so the mixture does not stop boiling. Cook rapidly to hard ball stage. Pour into buttered pan and cool.

Creamed, whipped or spun honey is pure honey with nothing added. Creamed honey is made by introducing findly crystallized honey into liquid honey and controlling the temperature. It is then agitated until it is creamy and spreadable.

Honey Applesauce Cookies: 1 cup applesauce; 1 cup honey; 1/2 cup shortening; 2 eggs; 1/2 tsp. salt; 2 1/2 cups flour; 1 cup raisins; 1 cup nuts; 1 tsp. baking powder; 1 tsp. cinnamon. Mix honey and shortening. Add beaten eggs and rest of ingredients. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until the sides are set.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies: 1/2 cup sugar; 1 cup butter; 1 egg; 2 1/2 cups flour; 3/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice; 3 cups sifted powdered sugar; 1/8 cup milk; 1/2 tsp vanilla; dash of salt; 1 cup honey. Directions: Cream sugar and butter until well mixed. Blend in egg and honey. Add combined flour and spice; mix well. Chill. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness; cut with 3 inch round cookie cutter. Place on greased cookie sheet; bake at 400 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Cool. Combine sugar, milk, vanilla and salt; mix well. Add food coloring, if desired. Frost cookies and decorate with candies, if desired.

If you feel your energy levels dropping take one or two tablespoons of honey. Also, if you suffer from allergies, use locally produced honey. It will help you develop a tolerance.

Chocolate Honey Ice Cream: 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces; 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour; dash of salt; 1 1/2 cups milk; 1/2 cup honey; 2 beaten eggs; 2 cups whipping cream; 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Directions: In saucepan, combine, chocolate pieces, flour and salt. Stir honey and milk together and gradually stir into dry ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until chocolate melts and mixture thickens and boils. Add a moderate amount of hot mixture to eggs and mix well; return slowly to hot mixture. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Chill. Stir in cream and vanilla. Freeze in 2-quart ice cream freezer. Let ripen. Garnish with additional semisweet chocolate pieces if you wish.

Honey and Spice Ice Cream: 2 cups milk; 2 tbsp. cornstarch; 2 well beaten egg yolks; 1/2 cup honey; 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg; 1/8 tsp. salt; 1 cup whipping cream; 2 stiff-beaten egg whites. Directions: In saucepan, blend milk into cornstarch. Stir in egg yolks, honey, nutmeg and salt. Cook and stir over mediium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cover surface with waxed paper; chill without stirring. Whip cream into soft peaks. Fold whipped cream and egg whites into chilled mixture. Turn into 9x5 loaf pan. Cover and freeze firm. Serve plain or with fruit.

Rhode Island Hasty Pudding: 1 cup yellow cornmeal; 1/3 cup sugar; 1/2 tsp. salt; 6 cups apple juice; 1/2 tsp. nutmeg; 1 quart vanilla ice cream; 1/3 cup honey. Directions: In a large saucepan, mix cornmeal, sugar and salt. Stir in apple juice. Stir over moderate heat until it starts to boil. Lower heat and simmer gently until pudding is thick, stirring constantly, about 30 minutes. Spoon into serving bowls and let stand until warm. Top with scoops of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of honey. Serve at once.