The other day I helped a customer with his subscription and after he left, he returned later with a jar of honey. He said he is a bee keeper and only jars a small amount each year. I was honored to receive one of those jars.
My grandma Koon was a big believer in honey. She baked with honey and used it in her coffee every day. I have fond memories of eating honey with fried chicken and biscuits at her house. My grandma would slice apples very thin and add them to my peanut butter sandwiches and then drizzle them with honey. I thought this was really special. Her honey always had some of the comb in the jar. She got it from her neighbor who kept bees for his garden. He was your typical gruff Arkansas farmer who kept chickens, cows, and a pig for eating but he treated his bees like pets.
But have you ever wondered what honey is, exactly? According to the National Honey Board, the story of honey is older than history itself. An 8,000-year-old cave painting in Spain depicts honey harvesting, and we know it’s been used for food, medicine and more by cultures all over the world since. But honey isn’t about humans. It’s the natural product made by bees—one of our planet’s most important animals. Honey bees visit millions of blossoms in their lifetimes, making pollination of plants possible and collecting nectar to bring back to the hive.
Honey gets its sweetness from its chemical makeup. It’s made up of two simple sugars called glucose and fructose, along with some minerals.
In other words, honey is essentially a natural liquid sugar. It’s made by hardworking honeybees, who collect nectar from flowers and take it back to their hive, where they chew on it until it turns into honey. Then, they deposit the honey into tiny, waxy storage units called honeycombs and fan it with their wings to dry it out, a process that makes it stickier.
The color, flavor, and even aroma of honey differs, depending on the nectar of flowers visited by the bees that made it. There are more than 300 unique types of honey available in the United States alone, each originating from a different floral source.
Honey shades range from nearly colorless to dark brown, while flavors go from subtle to bold; even the aroma of honey may be reminiscent of the flower. As a general rule, the flavor of light-colored honey is milder, and the flavor of darker-colored honey is stronger.
Cool, right?! But just because honey is all-natural doesn’t mean we can eat as much of it as we want. While honey is best known as a natural sweetener, it has some surprising health benefits, too.
Honey has been used for centuries to help alleviate symptoms of the common cold, and now research confirms this approach for children ages one and older. According to the National Honey Board, honey offers an effective and natural alternative to over-the-counter cough medicine. Though time is the most important healer of a sore throat, a spoonful of honey can help relieve the irritation.
One tablespoon of honey has: 61 calories, 17 grams of carbs, no fat, trace amounts of fiber and protein. It contains small amounts of some nutrients, but most people typically don’t consume enough honey for it to be a significant dietary source of vitamins and minerals.
However, remember that honey is a type of sugar, so consuming it will cause your blood sugar levels to rise. Eating large quantities of honey, especially consistently over a long period, can contribute to weight gain and increase your risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
There is a historical precedent for the use of topical honey treatment for wound and burn healing. The practice is still common today. I know a Maltese dog that the vet used honey to treat its wounds from a German shepherd mauling. (Lola healed fine).
One particular kind of honey, manuka honey, can be used topically (meaning that it’s applied to the skin) to treat cuts and sores. But don’t expect this to be a simple, inexpensive cure-all: Manuka honey is a pricey ingredient that can run you anywhere from $30 to $200. Manuka honey comes from the nectar and pollen of the Manuka bush in New Zealand.
The best honey doesn’t come in a cute little plastic teddy bear. That kind of honey is processed and less beneficial than its counterparts. Local farm stands are your best bet for good raw honey.
There are many ways to use honey. Replace sugar with honey in baking. You need less honey to reach the same amount of sweetness as sugar. Instead of eating flavored yogurt, which comes with lots of added sugar, try sweetening plain Greek yogurt with a light drizzle of honey and add your own fruit.
HONEY PUMPKIN TIRAMISU YIELD: Makes 8 servings INGREDIENTS
For Coffee Sauce:
2 1/2 cups – coffee (brew strong) 1/4 cup – honey
1/2 cup – whole milk
For Filling:
2 T – confectioner’s sugar
2 cups – heavy whipping cream
2 T – honey
16 oz. – Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
15 oz. – unseasoned pumpkin puree 1/4 cup – light brown sugar
1 tsp. – ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. – ground ginger
1/2 tsp. – ground nutmeg
1 tsp. – orange zest
4 dozen – ladyfinger cookies
1/2 cup – unsweetened cocoa powder
DIRECTIONS
For Coffee Sauce: Stir hot coffee, honey and milk together until honey melts. Let cool, set aside.
For Filling: Whip confectioner’s sugar and heavy whipping cream in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form, set aside. In another mixing bowl, gently fold honey, Mascarpone cheese, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, spices and orange zest with a flexible spatula until well mixed and smooth. Gently fold the whipped cream mixture into the pumpkin mixture until smooth and set aside. Individually dip the ladyfinger cookies into the coffee sauce and layer them evenly in the bottom of a 9” x 13” pan. Spoon about a third of the filling over the cookies. Repeat layers two more times. Sift cocoa powder over the top. Refrigerate 6 hours (or overnight) and serve chilled. Individual servings can be made in a specialty glass; use the same layering technique.
HONEY COUGH SYRUP INGREDIENTS
zest of 2 lemons (approx. 1 1/2 T)
1/4 cup – ginger, peeled, sliced
1/2 tsp. of ground ginger
1 cup – water
1 cup – honey
1/2 cup – lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
In a small saucepan, combine lemon zest, sliced ginger and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, then strain through into a heat-proof measuring cup. Rinse the saucepan out and pour in 1 cup of honey. On low heat, warm the honey, but do not allow it to boil. Add the strained lemon ginger water and the lemon juice. Stir the mixture until it combines to form a thick syrup. Pour into a clean jar with a lid. Note: This can be refrigerated for up to 2 months. For children ages 1 to 5, use 1/2 to 1 tsp. every 2 hours. For children ages 5 to 12, use 1 to 2 tsp. every 2 hours. For children 12 and older and adults, use 1 to 2 T every 4 hours. *Remember, honey is recommended for children after the age of one.
