“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” ~ Victor Hugo. A collection of honey recipes. 1

The use of honey as a food can be traced back to 6000BC, with a cave painting from Valencia in Spain depicting two hunter-gathers raiding a wild bee’s hive for honey. The versatility of honey has been lost in many professional kitchens in favour of the food chemicals coming from labs rather than nature. With the current trend of foraging everything & anything, this does perplex me why chefs aren’t using this bountiful product more.

Some honey facts:

• The 60,000 or so bees in a beehive may collectively travel as much as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a pound of honey.
• The average honey bee will actually make only one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
• Honey lasts for ever – or nearly. An explorer who found a 2000 year old jar of honey in an Egyptian tomb said it tasted delicious!
• Nearly one million tonnes of honey is produced worldwide every year.

Milk chocolate, honey & praline semi freddo

• 1L Double Cream
• 180g Egg yolks
• 50g Sugar
• 100g Honey, warmed

Make as crème Anglaise: Whisk the sugar & egg yolks together until pale.

Bring the cream to the boil & pour onto the yolks & sugar, fully 82⁰C. Return to the same pan, reduce the heat and stir continuously. Cook to  82⁰C, then pass through a sieve into a bowl sat on some ice. Whilst still warm add the warmed honey.

Chill until blood warm temperature & reserve while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

• 300g Milk chocolate
• 200g Double cream, semi whipped
• 60g Praline, ground to a coarse dust

Melt the chocolate & incorporate into the crème Anglaise with a whisk.

Add the praline and fold in along with the double cream.

Pour into lined moulds & freeze overnight.

The following two recipes are great accompaniments for terrines & pates, which I’ve used for a number of years.

Honey Jelly

• 300ml Medium dry white wine
• 50ml Water
• 250ml Clear honey
• 1 Split Vanilla pod
• 4 leaves of gelatine

Soak the gelatine in some cold water until it feels like a used condom.

Combine the rest of the ingredients & heat until just before boiling point. Remove the gelatine leaves from the water and add to the rest of the ingredients. Remove from the heat.

Dissolve the gelatine and pass through a chinois into a lined tray & chill until set.

Hot & Sour Cucumbers

• 2 Cucumbers, Peeled & de-seeded, sliced length ways.
• 3 Bay leaves
• 300ml Rice vinegar
• 200g Clear honey
• 3 Chillies, finely diced
• 1 Red onion, finely sliced
• 2 Tsp Pink peppercorns

Combine all the ingredients except the cucumbers & red onions.

Bring to the boil, remove from the heat & add the remaining ingredients.

Chill for 2 hours before use.

The next recipe is a classic French sponge petit four, which has been given a a touch of updating with the addition of muscovado  sugar, giving it a depth of flavour. Although the traditional shell shaped mould isn’t a requirement, it certainly adds to the occasion.

Honey madeleienes (top left)

Honey Madeleine

• 4 Eggs
• 100g Castor sugar
• 40g Soft brown sugar
• 200g Plain flour
• 5g Baking powder
• 180g Melted butter
• 40g Clear honey
• Pinch of Sea salt

Combine the flour, baking powder & salt, and reserve.

In a food processor, combine both sugars, honey & eggs and purée until smooth. While the processor is still running add the flour mix then the warm melted butter.

Rest overnight before using.

Lightly butter the madeleine mould before use. ( Amazon sell the moulds )

Cook @ 175⁰C until risen, golden brown & firm to the touch. Serve whilst still warm.

And finally one of my favourite chicken wings recipes, nice & easy for that night in front of the TV.

Ginger & Honey Chicken wings

• 60g Ginger, peeled & chopped
• 120g Clear honey
• 100ml Orange juice
• 20g Butter
• 300g Chicken wings

Sweat the ginger in the butter.

Separately reduce the orange juice by 2/3, add the honey & bring to the boil for 30 secs.

Combine all the ingredients, bring to the boil for 1 minute & leave to infuse.

In a large bowl add the chicken wings to the marinade & thoroughly combine.

Cook in a lightly oiled roasting tray @ 200⁰C for 30mins.