If you are a honey connoisseur, you are familiar with not only regular honey but also creamed honey. What you may not have tried is flavored creamed honey.
This is a special treat that you can make yourself. This makes such a fun treat to serve on hot rolls or bread or a great gift to give to neighbors and friends. Here are the instructions to make it.
I’ve also included a recipe for homemade ketchup and homemade mustard. If you have never made them, you should try. It’s a fun experiment.
Raspberry or Orange Creamed Honey
Melt 2 quarts honey and cool to room temperature. Add ½ pint (1 cup) creamed honey. Stir well to combine. Let this mixture sit until it turns to creamed honey – about 2 weeks.
Take out 1 cup and set aside. (This is your starter. You will save 1 cup of the mixture – before you flavor it – to use in your next batch of creamed honey in place of the ½ cup of creamed honey you used the first time.)
Pour the honey you mixed, minus the 1 cup you set aside to save, into separate containers and flavor each according to your taste, using flavored extracts; start with a small amount of extract until you get the flavor you like. We like Raspberry and orange the best. I want to try some chocolate honey but I have not done it yet. I also think almond honey would be very good. Experiment and see what your favorite is!
Homemade Mustard
½ c. dry mustard
½ c. white vinegar
1 t. salt
½ t. pepper
2 T. white sugar
3 egg yolks, beaten
In a heavy saucepan combine mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar. Simmer over low heat for 3 hours. Beat egg yolks into mixture and stir until thickened. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal. Cool at room temperature and store in the refrigerator.
Homemade Ketchup
1 28-oz. can tomato puree
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 T. brown sugar
½ c. cider vinegar
1 c. water
Pinch cayenne
Pinch celery salt
Pinch dry mustard
Pinch ground allspice
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch ground ginger
Pinch ground cinnamon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 of a fresh jalapeno, stemmed and seeded (Optional)
Yield: about 4 cups of ketchup
In a blender or food processor, blend tomato puree, garlic, onion, and brown sugar. If you like a spicier ketchup add the jalapeno pepper. Blend until smooth. When mixture is smooth, add vinegar and water. Blend again until smooth. Pour into a heavy kettle. Whisk in spices, adjusting the spices you use to your personal preferences. As the ketchup cooks, taste periodically to adjust the seasonings. Remember the ketchup will “cook down” and the spices will become stronger as it cooks. Cook over medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When it starts to boil, lower the heat to about medium, just until it will hold a simmer. Simmer, uncovered about 1 hour stirring occasionally. You have to be the judge of when your ketchup is ready.
To test what your ketchup will be like when it’s chilled, stick a small plate in the freezer for about 15 minutes. When you think your ketchup is done, put about a teaspoon on the cold plate. Stick it back in the freezer until the ketchup is cold. Then, taste it and see if you’re happy. The consistency of the ketchup on your plate represents about how the entire pot would be once it’s chilled. If you like it, take the pot off the heat. If you want it thicker, simmer it for another 5-10 minutes, then do the cold plate test again. When you’re happy with your ketchup, take it off the stove. Season with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Cool it to room temp on the counter, then bottle and refrigerate. This can be bottled and sealed in jars if you wish.
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