Honey

Appears in

Published 1989

About

Honey is the original sweetener, popular long before cane sugar became common. Some of the most valued honeys come from orange blossom, buckwheat, sage blossom, heather, rosemary, lavender, acacia and eucalyptus. The color varies with the flower. Usually, the paler the honey, the milder its flavor. Plain, or extracted, honey is often pasteurized to prevent crystallization. Chunk honey containing bits of honeycomb is not processed, neither is comb honey, which comes straight from the beehive.

Honey not only adds distinctive flavor to baked goods, it makes them dense and moist, so that they keep longer. It is the characteristic sweetener in many pastries and cakes like spice bread or Greek Baklava. Many caramels, candies, and liqueurs such as Benedictine, are also flavored with honey.