Herbal honeys are a gateway into herbalism
I am sure that you have tried different types of honey and used honey in many creative ways, now let's take your honey game up a level.
Imagine creating your own gourmet herbal honeys for your next picnic or family gathering. Everyone will think that you truly are the bee's knees.
Honey!
A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and infused honey helps the day go better. Just imagine using an infused honey to sweeten your tea, to smear your morning toast, on a peanut butter sandwich, or on your evening popcorn. Honey has benefits all on its own, and the addition of dried fruits or herbs takes it to an out-of-this-world level. You can use your herb-infused honey in medicine making, such as adding it to your infused vinegar to make a delicious oxymel or applied to the skin for blemishes, wounds, and burns.
If you have the option, choose a local raw honey. Raw honey is packed full of healing enzymes and is naturally antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Buying local supports local farmers as well as helping with seasonal allergies. Thank you, bees and farmers, you are the best!
To make infused honey, you can use dried fruits, fresh herbs that are chopped and wilted, dried herbs, or dried and finely powdered herbs. If you infuse with dried herbs, you may want to filter out the herbs once you are done infusing (this is not a quick or easy task), but if you use powdered herbs, you will not need to strain the honey. You can make your own powders by using a coffee grinder.
To infuse with powdered herbs, put your honey into a sterilized jar, and put the jar into a double boiler over low heat (if you do not have a double boiler, you can put a mason jar ring in the bottom of a pot with water, and put the honey jar on top of the ring, making sure that the water level is below the top of the jar. Gently heat just to the point that they honey gets runny enough that it is easy to mix in the powder. Once the powder is mixed in, remove from heat and allow to cool. Label your jar and put it in a cupboard for at least two weeks to allow the herbs to infuse. Once it is ready, use it as you would any other honey.
To infuse non-powdered herbs or dried fruit, fill a sterilized jar about halfway with honey, put in your herbs or dried fruit, and then add honey to cover the dried herbs or fruit. Label your jar and put it in a cupboard for at least two weeks to allow the herbs to infuse. The consistency of the honey will become waterier. No need to strain the fruit out, but you may want to strain out the herbs, if you used herbs.
Summer Delight Honey
¾ cup of dried fruit: peaches, apricots, or plums, finely chopped
1-2 Tbsp powdered lavender
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 cup honey
Spiced Honey
1 Tbsp powdered ginger
2 Tbsp powdered cinnamon or turmeric
1 cup honey
Honey Drizzle
1 dried orange peels
2 Tbsp powdered hibiscus flowers
1 Tbsp powdered rose hips
1 cup honey
You can also make wellness honey to help support you through allergy season and cold & flu season. The options of what you can do with honey is nearly endless. Rosemary Gladstar and Kami McBride have both created many recipes for herbal infused recipes, I highly recommend checking out a copy of Kami's book, The Herbal Kitchen: Bring Lasting Health to You and Your Family. One of my favorite recipes to help with upper respiratory crud is based on the same idea as fire cider: infuse pungent items and consume the tasty results every day. The pungent herbs I like to use are garlic, onion, thyme, sage, and ginger. I use them in whatever combination strikes my fancy at the time I am making the honey.
Garlic Honey – peel and cut enough garlic to fill a sterilized jar 1/3 - ½ full, let the garlic sit for about 10 minutes, cover in honey, stir, cover, and label the jar. Infused honey will be ready in a couple of days. Best to use within three months. Super tasty with cheese and crackers.
Garlic, Onion, and Thyme Honey – 4 or 5 peeled and chopped garlic cloves, ½ small onion, and 1 tsp of dried thyme (and/or any other herb that you are feeling at the moment) covered in honey in a small, sterilized jar. Cover and label, let sit for 2-7 days. Best to consume it all up within a few months.
Onion Honey – chop up one small onion of your choice and place in a sterilized jar, cover with honey, and let it for 12-24 hours. A layer of “water” will form at the top; you can use the “water” as your medicine, or you can shake it all up and use the liquified onion honey as a syrup. This is very tasty on a burger.
Lemon Ginger Honey – cut an organic lemon into ½ inch slices,
peel and chop a 1-inch piece of ginger, put both into a small, sterilized jar, and cover in honey. Cover and label, let sit for at least 2 days. This is great in teas. Since the lemon does introduce water into the honey, it is best to eat it all up within a few months.
For more on infused honey, check out Sweet Nectar
Comments