Great Banana Cake/Bread with Honey!

This delicious banana bread/cake recipe comes from King Arthur Flour, a great source for recipes.  It has a wonderful, deep banana flavor and a great, dense crumb.  It's almost like a banana pound cake.  It includes tablespoons of jam or marmalade. I used some lovely plum jam that friends gave us--a very nice addition!

I usually bake quick breads in a ring cake mold.  It holds the same amount of batter as a 9x5  loaf pan, and avoids the problem of an under cooked center that I sometimes experience with quick breads, especially when baking with honey.  Baked goods with honey tend to brown much more quickly and so the outer crust starts to get too dark before the center is completely cooked. 

Banana Cake/Bread with Honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar, light or dark, firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium or 2 large bananas)
3 tablespoons jam or marmalade (optional, but makes it very special!)
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan or ring cake mold. 
 
In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Add the mashed bananas, jam, honey, and eggs, again beating until smooth. 
 
Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Stir into wet ingredients just until smooth.  Fold in the walnuts if using.  
 
Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top. Let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Bake the bread for 45 minutes.  Check and then gently lay a piece of aluminum foil across the top, to prevent over-browning if necessary.  Bake for an additional 10 or 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing. This cake keeps for several days.

Addictive Almond Honey Phyllo Pastry

I made the mistake of making this delicious and addictive confection when we had no plans for company.  Then Robert left for a two-day trip. What can I say?  I like a culinary challenge and this pastry was very appealing in that regard.  I didn't plan for how...how...how overwhelmingly tempting it would be to have just lying around.  I'm proud to say that there was still some left when Robert got back, but we (okay, mostly I) gnawed our way through all of it, just the two of us.  Not a wise move as the weather warms and bathing suit season beckons!  The recipe comes from the Food 52 website and is called "M'hanncha-Moroccan Almond and Orange Blossom Phyllo Pastry." Mine is a bit more rustic than the lovely photo on the Food 52 website.  That recipe calls for orange flower water, which I did not have.  I did have some rose water, though, which I used, even though I didn't really taste the rose water in the finished version.  I think either one makes a nice addition, but isn't essential.  The cinnamon-almond-honey combination wrapped in buttery phyllo is what makes this pastry impossible to resist.  The pastry is supposed to be sliced in thin wedges like a pie, but Robert and I (okay, mostly I) just pulled at the ropes and ate 2-inch pieces until we got to the center.  Consider yourself warned: make this when you'll have plenty of help to eat it!

1 tablespoon butter (NOTE:  the whole recipe requires about 12 tablespoons butter)
1 cup almonds
7 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 3/4 cup almond meal (see note below)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 whole egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon rose water (optional, but nice)
8-10 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
about 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing on phyllo
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon rose water
NOTE: If you can't find almond meal, then ground two cups of almond with one or two tablespoons of the granulated sugar in a blender (better than a food processor) until it is a fine meal, being careful not to turn it into almond butter. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan over low heat and melt.  Stir in the whole almonds and toast until nicely browned and fragrant, being careful not to burn--about five minutes.  Remove from heat and cool.  Place the cooled almonds in a food processor and blend with the granulated sugar until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Add the almond meal, powdered sugar, the 7 tablespoons of melted butter, the whole egg, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon rose water (if using).  Process until it is a well-combined paste.

Open the phyllo package, unroll, cover with plastic wrap and then lightly damp kitchen towel to keep it from drying out.  Take one sheet and place on the work surface with the long side facing you.  Lightly brush with butter.  Take pieces of the almond paste and roll into a log about 1/2 inch thick and line up along the long edge of the phyllo. You'll have to do this in fairly small pieces and press them together to extend across the phyllo sheet.  Roll the phyllo round the filling and brush with butter to keep it flexible.  Coil the roll and place in the center of a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Continue filling the phyllo sheets with the almond paste and rolling up, then linking up the filled rolls with the previous ones to form a tight coil.  This will take about 8 to 10 phyllo sheets.  Brush the finished coil with the egg yolk/water mixture and bake in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, until crisp and brown.

While the pastry is baking, heat the honey in a small sauce pan just to make very runny and add the rose water if using.  Pour the honey over the warm pastry.  Cool a bit before slicing into small wedges.  This will serve about 10--or, over the course of five days, two adults with sweet teeth who know they should know better but ate it all anyway!

Mom's Peanut Butter Honey Oat Treats

I've been bugging my mom to come up with recipes for this blog and these delightful treats are her latest invention.  We had them for "bezzert" at our regular Monday dinner get together.  "Bezzert" is the linguistic invention of my great nephew Sam--an ardent dessert aficionado--who began inquiring about the after dinner sweet options when he was but a wee lad. He's big enough now to pronounce "dessert," but "bezzert" remains the preferred word in our family.  It makes us smile every time we say it. Mom's Peanut Butter Honey Oat Treats are both chewy and crunchy--and couldn't be simpler!  They're a regular feature of Wood Family bezzerts! Thanks, Momma!

Mom's Peanut Butter Honey Oat Treats
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
3 cups oat cereal (e.g. Cheerios)

Line an 8x8 pan with wax or parchment paper. Place peanut butter and honey in a large mixing bowl and melt in the microwave--about 30 seconds  Stir in the oat cereal, completely coating the cereal with the peanut butter/honey mixture.  Press into the pan and place in refrigerator until hardened.  Cut into squares.  An easy and good-for-you snack (or bezzert!). Makes about 16.
 

Scotch-Peanut Chocolate Truffles for Valentine's Day!

My father is a Scotch connoisseur.  Lucky for him, Robert occasionally makes a trip to Scotland, and when he can, brings back a drop or two of that country's finest drink.  Dad's favorite distiller at the moment is Deanston, which makes (according to Dad) some wonderful single malt Scotches. When I saw this recipe for Scotch Peanut Chocolate Truffles by Florence Fabricant on the NY Times Cooking website and noted that they used a bit of honey, too, I knew I had to give them a try. We're not as taken with Scotch as Dad is, so I had to borrow a few tablespoons from him to make these chocolates. (Don't worry, Robert! I didn't use the good stuff!)  If you don't have Scotch, a liqueur or other distilled drink would probably work--Grand Marnier or amaretto or Chambord? Bourbon?  You might also swap out the peanuts for another kind of nut like almonds or cashews.  A slight and lovely hint of the Scotch does come through and marries well with the peanuts in the chocolate. I used milk chocolate to coat the truffles instead of the bittersweet chocolate called for in the recipe. This made what seems like a ton of truffles--about 48--that I'll be sharing with Dad and Mom. Next time I make them,  I'll likely cut the recipe in half, though.  If you have some grown up valentines, these unique truffles would be a lovely, homemade gift!

Scotch Peanut Chocolate Truffles
8 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons honey
3 tablespoons Scotch
6 tablespoons salted peanuts, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lb 4 ounces good quality milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces

Place the bittersweet chocolate into a heat-proof bowl.  Heat the heavy cream to a simmer and pour over the chocolate, stirring to melt.  If you need to, briefly place the bowl over a post of simmering water to melt all of the chocolate.  Stir in the honey, Scotch, nuts and vanilla.  Chill until firm.

Using a scant teaspoon, roll the chocolate into small balls about an inch in diameter.  Place them on a lined cookie sheet and then freeze for about 30 minutes, or until nice and firm.

Melt 16 ounces of the  milk chocolate (either in a pan over very low heat or in the microwave for a minute or so--being careful not to burn it).   Add the remaining 4 ounces of milk chocolate and stir to melt.  Dip the truffles into the chocolate to cover completely and place on a lined sheet. (The directions in the original recipe called for spearing the truffles with a fork and dipping them into the chocolate to coat.  That didn't seem to work for me. I plopped a few a time in the bowl, tossed them around, and then used a fork to scoop them out.)  In about 15 minutes, they'll be ready to eat.  Store in the refrigerator.
 

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies

This recipe was originally published in 2004 in Gourmet Magazine, under the title "Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookies." It now appears on the Epicurious website. I made them back in the day when I subscribed to Gourmet, and am happy to have rediscovered this recipe. They're a delicious treat--and fully approved during a "taste test" at Monday night dinner with Mom and Dad (thanks, Mom & Dad!). I followed the recipe almost to the letter (just added a bit more vanilla extract) and they came out perfectly.  It may be worth taking a look at the comments of other cooks on the Epicurious website, though.  Some complained that there isn't enough flour in the dough and the cookies spread too much, so recommend adding more flour (about 1/4 cup).  Others thought that the flavors weren't that strong, so recommend increasing the amount of cinnamon.  Still others left out the raisins and/or the walnuts. We thought the flavor was great.  The filling is simply 8oz of cream cheese mixed with 1/4 cup of honey.  Whether you make these little whoopie pies or not, the honey/cream cheese filling makes a great frosting for any carrot or spice cake!

Mini Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar 
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 cup coarsely grated carrots
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Filling:  8 oz. cream cheese, softened and 1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and put racks in upper and lower third of the oven.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or foil and then grease the sheets well. (Some complained about the cookies sticking too much. I used cooking spray to grease the sheets and didn't have any trouble.)

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat for a few minutes.  Using the lowest setting on the mixer, mix in the carrots.  Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Stir in the raisins and walnuts until just evenly distributed.

Place by generous, rounded tablespoon onto the cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart and trying to make them as even as possible so they'll be easy to pair when adding the filling.  Bake for 12-16 minutes, turning the sheets once during baking to promote even browning.  The cookies should be nicely browned and the tops should spring back when lightly touched.  Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets then place on cooling racks and cool completely.

Blend the cream cheese and honey thoroughly.  Take one cookie, spread the flat side with a heaping tablespoon, and sandwich another cookie on top, pressing a bit so that the filling squishes to the edges.  This recipe made 13 whoopie pies, each about 3 inches in diameter.
 

Banana & Ginger Honey Cake and (BONUS recipe!) Homemade Vegetable Broth

A 2015 NPR story about food waste notes that Americans throw away about 1/3 of our available food. So this year, I've resolved to try to waste less food.  Maybe banana cake and bread is a bit cliche in that regard, but instead of tossing out the bananas that get too ripe before I can eat them, I am peeling them, putting them in a baggie and freezing for the future.  Here's a nice banana honey cake from the National Honey Board that I adapted and served for a dinner with some good friends a few nights ago.  It's a sturdy, pound cake-like cake, that's even better if it sits for a day.  

We're also saving almost all of our vegetable scraps in a bag in the freezer and making vegetable broth with them.  Scroll down for the bonus recipe!

Banana & Ginger Honey Cake
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/4 cups honey
3 Tablespoons sour cream
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (thawed if frozen)
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger (optional, but nice!)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a Bundt pan. Sift or whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger together and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and honey together until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Add the sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix to combine well.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing to combine well after each one.  Add the flour and mix just until it's well combined (don't over mix).  Fold in the crystallized ginger and nuts.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes.  Cool for about 15 minutes and then turn out on to a plate.  When fully cooled, tightly wrap with foil or plastic wrap. Enjoy!

Bonus Recipe:  Homemade Vegetable Broth from Food Scraps
As you peel and prepare vegetables for other meals, save the scraps that you don't use in a freezer bag, adding to the bag every time you have some scraps.  Onion peels, carrot scrapings, ends of celery, mushroom stems, sweet red or green pepper seeds, leek tops, garlic peels and ends, parsley and other herb stems--all work well. Hot pepper seeds will make a very spicy-hot broth, so use them sparingly.  Also, skip strongly-flavored cruciferous vegetables like cabbage leaves, broccoli stalks and Brussels sprouts, which tend to overwhelm the broth. 

When the bag is full, place the contents in a large stock pot and, over low heat, slowly braise them so that they begin to release their juices. Check and stir the pot regularly to be sure the veggie scraps don't burn.  Once the scraps are fully thawed and have released their juices, pour in enough water to cover, add a handful of peppercorns and a good measure of salt. You can add other flavorings, too, like bay leaves or thyme, if you'd like. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to very slowly simmer the broth for about an hour or two, stirring occasionally. Strain the broth and taste, adding more salt or other herbs if desired.  If you want a very clear broth, then don't press too hard on the scraps when straining.  Compost the scraps.  You can place the broth in containers and freeze for future use or turn the broth into a nice soup that day.  
 

Rosemary Shortbread and (BONUS recipe!) Honey-Lime Salmon with Noodles

Rosemary-flecked shortbread cookies

These delicately sweetened rosemary shortbread cookies come from Melissa Clark at the New York Times. I halved the recipe and made them much thinner, using a spring form pan with a center hole. The hint of rosemary marries well with the sugar, honey and salt to make a not-too-sweet cookie that would make an elegant addition to a holiday cookie plate.  Very nice for an afternoon tea.  Check out Melissa Clark's recipe if you want a thicker, more substantial cookie.

Rosemary Shortbread Cookies
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold butter (don't substitute!)
1 teaspoon dark honey (though any will do)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the flour, sugar, rosemary and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.  Cut the butter into 1/4-1/2 inch cubes, add to the food processor and pulse several times until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.  Pulse a few more times until some of the crumbs begin to come together--but don't over pulse.  The mixture will be very (very!) crumbly.  Place this crumbly mixture into a 9-inch spring form pan with a center hole or a loaf pan.  (If you use a loaf pan, it might be worth using parchment paper to line the short sides and bottom so that you can lift it out easily when finished.) Press the crumb down firmly and evenly all around.  Bake for about 30 minutes until the edges are nicely browned.  Cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cut into cookie-sized pieces.  Be sure to cut the shortbread before it cools completely. These keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.  Makes about 18 cookies.

Honey-Lime Salmon with Noodles

Honey-Lime Salmon with Noodles

This recipe comes from Hattie Ellis's wonderful cookbook, Honey, which I reviewed in a previous post (here's the link!).  This was a hit with Robert's sister, Felicity, who was visiting for dinner (Robert liked it, too!).  The honey-lime glaze for the salmon has an Asian flair to it.  The original recipe calls for sugar snap peas or snow peas.  I didn't have them on hand, so just used some regular, frozen peas.  This is an easy and delicious mid-week meal, which is also fancy enough for company.

4 salmon steaks (we used fillets)
1 package of flat rice noodles (you could also use fettucini or spaghetti if that's what you have)
2 carrots
2 ounces sugar snap peas or snow peas (I used about 1/2 cup frozen peas)
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
squeeze of lime juice
4 wedges of lime to serve

Honey-Lime Glaze
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
juice of one lime
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons honey (the lighter summer honey works well with this)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
pinch of chili flakes (optional, but nice!)

Serves 4.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine all of the glaze ingredients and stir well until the honey completely dissolves.  Line a baking sheet large enough to fit the salmon with aluminum foil or parchment paper.  Place the salmon on the sheet and pour the glaze over it.  Place in the oven for 5 minutes, then spoon the glaze over the salmon and return to the oven for 5 more minutes, spooning the thickening glaze over the salmon one more time about a minute before the end of cooking time.

Follow the package directions for cooking the noodles.  Peel the carrots and cut into thin matchsticks.  Steam the carrots for about 3 minutes.  Add the peas and steam for another few minutes until both the carrots and peas are barely cooked--you want the carrots to still have a little crunch.

Toss the cooked noodles with the carrots, peas, cilantro, sesame oil and a squeeze of lime.  Divide the noodles among four bowls and top with the salmon, spooning extra glaze over all.  Serve with lime wedges.  Some might like a little extra soy sauce and chili flakes on the table, too.

Little Honey Almond Apple Hand Pies

These nice little hand pies are adapted from a recipe for mini pop tarts on the National Honey Board's website, which has as great variety of honey-related recipes. I did some fiddling with the recipe by adding a few thin slices of apple to the almond/honey filling and making them round instead of square.  Check out the original recipe for some great variations that include one for dark chocolate and another for spicy habanero (no lie!). 

Little Honey Almond Apple Hand Pies
For the pastry:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 (about) tablespoons ice water

Filling:
1/2 apple, peeled and very thinly sliced.  Toss with 1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup honey  
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

For top of pastry:
pinch of sugar, optional

Whisk the flours and salt together. Cut in the chilled butter until it's the size of peas. (I did this in a food processor with a few quick pulses and then transferred it to a bowl.)  Sprinkle the olive oil over and toss to coat the flour as best you can.  A tablespoon at a time, sprinkle the water over the mixture, tossing with a fork and then, if you need a third tablespoon, your hands.  You want a firm by pliable dough that isn't too over worked (but don't be afraid to tell it who's boss!).  Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.  

While dough chills, set the oven to 400 degrees. Place the almonds on an ungreased cookie sheet and put them in the oven.  Remove them from the oven when it reaches 400.  Chop the almonds in a food processor--the more finely you chop them, the more gooey the filling will be. Combine the almonds honey, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl.  

When dough has chilled for 30 minutes, roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8th inch thickness (as thin as you can!).  The olive oil in the dough should make it fairly pliable.  Cut dough into 2 1/2 inch rounds. (I used a  beer glass.) You should get about 8 rounds from the first roll.  Place half of the rounds on the cookie sheet, top with about a tablespoon of almond/honey filling and two or three thin apple slices.  Place a dough round on top of the filling, pressing to cover the filling.  Use a fork to seal the top dough round with the bottom. Then use the fork to gently poke a few holes in the top of the pastry. Repeat with remaining pastry rounds.  Roll dough out again.  You should get at least two rounds and maybe four from this one.  If you like, you can brush the hand pies with water (or milk or half and half) and sprinkle with a little sugar.  

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry has browned at the edges and is firm to the touch.  Cool on cookie sheets.  Makes about 10 hand pies.  

Robert and I each had two for dessert--and I'm just now noticing that another one has gone missing--a clear Robert endorsement!  They're not very big--but if we want to be honest with ourselves (and we do--well, at least most of the time), then one hand pie is probably what the daily portion-per-human should be. 

I came out of blog retirement to make this apple kuchen with honey!

David Tanis's (New York Times) Apple Kutchen with Honey

Dearest Blog Readers (all three of you! Thanks Mom & Dad and Jarrett!),
I know it's been ages since I've posted to this blog.  Work and life got busy and the blog got put on a back burner.  I hope that this post is the start of more in the future.  I'm an ardent follower of the New York Times food page and heartily recommend their Cooking website, which is often the first place I search when looking for a recipe.  They recently added the option of commenting on the recipes and you can even link their recipes in Evernote as a way ot keep all recipes organized.

In any event, a recent recipe by David Tanis for Apple Kuchen with Honey is what drew me out of blog slacking.  We had friends from out of town and I wanted to make something that would be nice for dessert but could also fill in for breakfast, too.  This one did the trick!  It looks fancy, but isn't that difficult to make.  I will say, though, that the cooking time in the original recipe is way underestimated.  I baked this nearly twice as long as the original recipe called for.  I used some lovely and large apples McConnell's Farm and only needed two (though the original recipe calls for three).  It keeps for several days if you wrap it well!

Apple Kuchen with Honey 

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar (plus a tablespoon for sprinkling on top)
1/4 cup honey
3 eggs, room temperature 
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 ounces (about 1/4 cup) chopped crystallized (candied) ginger (optional)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 large apples, peeled, cored and quartered

For the glaze:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (this lower temperature insures that the honey won't burn).  Butter and flour a 9 inch cake pan (if you have a spring form pan, that's even better!).

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and suger together until light and fluffy.  Add the honey and whip for 1 minute.  Stir in the gingers and lemon peel.

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together then add to the bowl, mixing quickly.  The batter will be stiff.  Spread into the prepared pan.

With a sharp knife, make 1/8th inch slices in the apples--but don't go all the way through so that they hold their shape. Arrange the quarters on top of the batter in a nice, pleasing circle, with one quarter in the center.  If using a spring form pan, place it on a cookie sheet to catch any drips and put in the oven.  Though the recipe claims it should bake for 45 minutes, mine took about an hour and twenty minutes--but check after 45 minutes and keep checking until a knife or toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.  (If it looks like the cake is browning too much and still isn't done, you can tent it with aluminum foil to stop the browning.) Cool on a rack.

For the glaze:  Put the sugar, honey and lemon juice in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat until it bubbles and the sugar melts--about two minutes.  Brush (or spoon) over the cooled cake. It's ready to serve after glazing, but keeps for several days if well wrapped.  The honey actually helps to preserve it!

Enjoy!
Jennie

Chocolate Crispy Rice Treats

 

These couldn't be simpler--or more delicious!  There are lots of ways you can play around with them, too. The original recipe came from the Vegetarian Times.  I followed it pretty closely, adding just a sprinkle of kosher salt when I mixed in the rice cereal.  Next time, I might add an extra cup of cereal and, perhaps, a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract to bump up the flavor.  I also put the dish in the fridge for awhile to harden a bit.  The recipe calls for almond butter, which I think makes them very special.  Peanut butter or another nut butter would work as well.

Chocolate Crispy Rice Treats
1/2 cup almond butter
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 cups crispy rice cereal (I used brown rice cereal--and next time I'll add at least 4 cups)
pinch of salt

Grease an 8x8 square baking dish with cooking spray.  In a large pan, combine the almond butter, honey and chocolate chips over medium low flame, stirring constantly until the chocolate is melted--about 3 or 4 minutes.  Add the cereal and a pinch of salt and stir to thoroughly combine the cereal with the chocolate mixture. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting into squares. (I found it helped to refrigerate them for about 30 minutes after they cooled.)

Zucchini Honey Cupcakes with Honey-Cream Cheese Icing

I can't quite claim that these cupcakes are health food--but it's safe to say that these cupcakes are at least better for you  most other cupcakes.  They're made with olive oil and honey and they're delicious!  Delicate, not-too-sweet, and  very satisfying.  The original recipe comes from a July 2006 issue of Gourmet Magazine, now available here on Epicurious.

I will confess that initially, Robert was not ecstatic about these cupcakes.  That might have something to do with the fact that he grabbed one before it had time to cool and ate it without any frosting. They were a little greasy when they first came out of the oven, but once they cooled (and even after after two days!) they were moist and delicious.  Lots of baked goods made with honey taste better the next day--and the honey helps to keep baked goods fresh. 

Zucchini Honey Cupcakes 
1/3 cup crystallized ginger (about 1 3/4 oz.), coarsely chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon (or orange) zest
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (I used 1 medium-sized zucchini that seemed to be perfect)
3/4 cup mild olive oil
3/4 cup mild honey
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 18 muffin cups with liners.  In a food processor, pulse the crystallized ginger until it's finely ground.  Add flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, lemon zest, salt, baking soda and baking powder to bowl of food processor and pulse to combine.  In a medium bowl, whisk the zucchini, oil, honey, eggs and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined--don't over mix.  Spoon the batter in the muffin cups, filling no more than 1/2 full so that they don't burst over the sides.  You should have enough for 18 regular-sized cupcakes.  Bake for about 20 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Cool completely before frosting with Honey-Cream Cheese Icing.  Don't frost if you're not eating them right away.

Honey-Cream Cheese Icing
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened 
2-4 tablespoons honey (according to taste)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
Beat the cream cheese until very smooth.  Add 2 tablespoons of the honey and the vanilla and beat until well blended.  Taste.  Add some more honey if you'd like the icing to be sweeter.  Should make enough for 18 cupcakes.   

 

Honey Cake You'll Really Like!

Robert made this delicious honey cake last week.  It 's a bit late for Rosh Hashanah, but this cake is wonderful and worth making even if there isn't a new year to celebrate. If we had it, we'd have added a little whipped cream to the plate to take this dessert over the top!   This recipe, for Red Wine Honey Cake with Plums, comes from Melissa Clark's "A Good Appetite" column in the New York Times. We skipped the plums in favor of raspberries that are burgeoning in the garden right now.  My all time go-to recipe for honey cake has been the one published in Gourmet Magazine in September 2003 (and luckily still available on-line!).  I think this one might just replace it, though!

Melissa Clark's Red Wine Honey Cake (made by Robert!)
NOTE:  In her story about making this cake, she notes that the wine tints the batter "an unappealing grey, making it look more like concrete than cake." That color disappears with the baking--and the flavor is lovely.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1  1/4 cups olive oil
1 cup good, local honey
3/4 cup dry red wine
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the rack in the middle of the oven.  Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.  Whisk the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices together in a large bowl.  In another bowl, whisk the eggs then add the sugar, oil, 1 cup honey, wine and ginger and whisk until well combined.  Add the flour mixture to the honey mixture and whisk until smooth.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean--about 45-50 minutes. (You might need to tent the cake mid-way through if the top starts to brown too much.)  Cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes then unmold and cool completely.

Honey Ice Cream and Bonus Recipe! Beekeepers' Fan-Favorite Rhubarb Dessert by Christy!

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's weekly food section often includes great recipes using honey and their July 25, 2013 issue was no exception.  Melissa McCart's article on "extreme ice creams" included a thyme-infused honey ice cream that I made here, with a few changes.  The first is that the original recipe seems to call for 2 teaspoons of salt, which is way (way!) too much (think it must be a typo).  I cut that back to 1/2 teaspoon.  I also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract to help bring out the honey flavor.  Next time I make this, I'll use lavender or basil or mint  instead of thyme (less extreme, but much more delectable!).

And keep reading!  Christy shared the recipe for her award-winning rhubarb dessert that took the fan favorite prize at the Burgh Bees & Beaver Valley Beekeepers' Association annual picnic this year.  Thanks, Christy!

Fair warning:  the recipes in this post aren't for those on a diet! :)

Honey Ice Cream
Published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on July 29, 2013 and adapted from Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book by Jake Godby & Sean Vahey.  I've adapted further!

1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon fresh herb, minced (basil, mint or lavender recommended)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks

Combine the honey and minced herb in a bowl and let it infuse for at least two hours or overnight.  Fill a large bowl with ice, place a smaller bowl inside the larger bowl and then fill the larger bowl with water to make an ice water bath.  Place a strainer on top of the smaller bowl in the middle.  In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine the cream, milk and salt and, stirring occasionally, bring to just under a simmer--don't boil!  In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs.  Whisking constantly, gradually pour about 1/2 of the cream mixture into the eggs and then transfer the egg/cream mixture back to the sauce pan and turn on medium heat.  Using a rubber spatula, stir constantly, being sure to get the bottom and sides so that the mixture doesn't scorch.  Cook for about 5 minutes until the custard coats the spatula and begins to steam--again, don't let this boil.  Remove from heat and stir in the honey/herb mixture, combining well.  Pour the mixture through the sieve over the bowl set in ice water and let cool, stirring occasionally.  When cool, refrigerate the custard for at least two hours (or over night).  When the mixture is very cold, put it in an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.  When processed, place in a separate container and freeze until it solidifies.  Makes 1 quart.

Beekeepers' Fan-Favorite Rhubarb Dessert by Christy
Haven't had a chance to make this myself yet, but had a taste at the picnic and it's creamy and delicious--a great use of rhubarb!  It comes from the April/May 2008 issue of Taste  of Home magazine called Cool Rhubarb Dessert by Maxine Smith.  Christy adapted the recipe so that it uses honey.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

FILLING
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
4 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb

TOPPINGS
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 cup minature marshmallows
1 1 /2 cups cold milk
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding
1/4 cup flaked coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, combine the flour, butter and walnuts and press into an ungreased 13x9 inch pan.  Bake for 20-25 until lightly browned.  Cool while making filling and topping.

In a large saucepan, combine the filling ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about five minutes or until rhubarb is tender. Cool and pour over crust.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream until thickened.  Add confectioners' sugar and beat until soft peaks form.  Fold in marshmallows and spread over rhubarb layer.

In a small bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes.  Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Spread over cream layer; sprinkle with coconut.  Cover and refrigerate for 4-5 hours.  Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before cutting.  Yield:  16 ample servings.

Chocolate Coconut Honey Ice "Cream"--Dairy Free!

Chocolate Coconut Ice "Cream"

This is another great recipe from our favorite vegan, Emily.  (Thanks, Emily!)  It's delicious, creamy and couldn't be simpler, made as it is with just coconut milk, cocoa and honey.

Instead of honey, Emily uses agave syrup--a nice alternative for those vegans who eschew honey.  There is, in fact, a great debate about whether honey can be included in a vegan diet. For more on that debate, check out this Slate article as well as this page on the Vegetus website. For the record, the Vegetus site argues that beekeepers exploit honeybees, a point we obviously dispute.  We can appreciate someone making a decision not to consume any animal or animal-created foods (like honey or milk) on principle, and Vegetus author offers a thoughtful and thorough discussion. Yet most of the foods that vegans enjoy are available because of the industrious (and indeed at times exploited) honeybee. As backyard beekeepers, we prefer to think that instead of exploiting them, we're helping them to thrive.

Whew! After that lengthy detour, it's time to enjoy some delicious ice "cream," don't you think?

Chocolate Coconut Honey Ice "Cream"
As Emily notes, the recipe comes from the Detoxinista website, with helpful directions for how to make it if you don't have an ice cream maker.  I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to give the flavor a little bump.

Just poured into the ice cream maker

1 14-oz can coconut milk
1/4 plus 2 tablespoons cocoa (I used Hershey's dark cocoa)
1/4 cup honey (or agave or maple syrup if you insist!)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whirl all of the ingredients in a blender and pour into an ice cream maker.  If you've made other more traditional ice creams before, this will look a bit more runny than most ice cream bases.  Have faith! Process in the ice cream maker for about 20 minutes until it is the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.  You can spoon it out into bowls right then and enjoy. Or, if you want the ice cream to be a bit firmer, place in a freezer-safe container and freeze for a few hours. This is best eaten within a day or two (I could barely stop myself from eating the whole thing in one sitting!.)

What it looks like when it's done

Ready to eat!

Chewy Pecan Honey Cookies

We've been major blog slackers here at SteffesWood Apiary.  Teaching and flying are occupying us a lot these days.  I had a chance to make these delicious cookies last weekend, though.  I'm testing out cookie recipes for the annual Friends of the B.F. Jones Library wine and cheese fundraiser on October 27.  The fundraiser always includes an elaborate and delicious cookie table and I wanted find some honey-based cookies to add to the offerings.  These are a keeper.  They're chewy, have a lot of great honey flavor and a nice little crunch from the pecans. I wasn't so sure about the recipe at first because it doesn't include any eggs--but these are delicious and have a wonderful texture.  I highly recommend them!


Chewy Pecan Honey Cookies
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (one stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the honey and cream well. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined, finishing by hand if needed, trying not to over mix.  Stir in the pecans.

Using about one teaspoon, form the dough into balls and place on the prepared cookie sheets. (You can chill the dough for about 10 minutes if it's very soft--don't chill for much longer, though, since the honey will harden making it hard to form into balls.)  Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden brown and set.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

100% Honey Baklava

We've been keeping bees since 2004 and it's high time that I've made a pan of baklava, don't you think? It's not working with filo that has put me off (read on for comments about that); it's  that most of the recipes I've found for baklava do not call for much honey. The sweetness tends to come mostly from making a syrup with sugar and water syrup. A bit of honey seems to be added just for flavor.  Alton Brown, whose recipes I appreciate for their precision, has a baklava recipe that relies on a sugar/water/honey syrup mixture. The Authentic Greek Recipes blog has a baclava (baklava) recipe that doesn't call for any honey at all. Even the National Honey Board's website includes a baklava recipe that uses a sugar/water syrup.

The recipe I used here relies only on honey for sweetness and comes from the National Honey Board's 1994 Sweetened With Honey The Natural Way cookbook.  The recipe is also available on their website.  It may not be authentic Greek baclava, but it's delicious and surprisingly not so sweet that it makes your teeth ache. It is, though, quite rich (using at least 1/2 pound of clarified butter) and it'd be impossible to classify this as diet food!

Though filo dough frightens some, it's surprisingly easy to work with as long as you don't let it dry out.  While making the layers, cover the unused sheets with some waxed paper and put a slightly dampened tea towel on top.  If a few of the sheets tear, don't worry--they'll be covered up by the next layer.

I've made a few changes to the recipe based on this test batch and include the original directions below along with my changes.

100% Honey Baklava
3 cups finely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash of ground cloves
about 3/4 cup clarified butter (see note below for how to make clarified butter. The recipe calls for 1 pound of butter, which I think is way too much!)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 package filo pastry sheets, thawed (the recipe called for 1 pound of filo, also way too much)
Honey syrup (recipe follows)

Combine walnuts and spices in a bowl and set aside.  Reserve about 1/4 cup clarified butter for brushing the bottom and top filo layers.  Stir the 1/2 cup of honey into the remaining 1/2 cup of clarified butter.  Brush the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with just the clarified butter (not honey/butter mixture).  Lay one sheet of filo in the pan (cutting to fit if needed) and brush it with just clarified butter.  Do this six times--brushing the sheets with just clarified each time.

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the walnut mixture.  Place 2 filo sheets on top of the walnuts, liberally brushing each with the butter/honey mixture. Sprinkle another 1/2 cup of walnuts, followed by 2 filo sheets, each brushed with the butter/honey mixture.  Do this four more times until all of the nut mixture is used up.  Finish with the remaining filo sheets, this time brushing each one with just the clarified butter.  You should have about 5 or 6 filo sheets on top.

With a sharp knife, cut the the baklava into diamond shaped pieces, being sure to cut all the way through.  Place pan in a preheated 325 degree oven and bake for 45 minutes.  REDUCE THE OVEN HEAT TO 275 AND BAKE 20 MINUTES MORE.  Remove from oven and while still very hot, spoon the cooled honey syrup over the entire surface.  Makes about 2 dozen pieces.

HONEY SYRUP
1 cup honey
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, about 3 inches long
1 1 /2 teaspoons lemon juice

Combine all but the lemon juice in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Add lemon juice and simmer about 5 minutes more.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.  Remove the cloves and cinnamon stick before spooning on to the baklava.

To make clarified butter:  Cut 3/4ths pound (three sticks) of unsalted butter into 1 inch pieces and melt in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Skim off foam; strain clear yellow liquid into a bowl, leaving the cloudy residue at the bottom. The clear yellow liquid is the clarified butter.

Cherry Honey Clafouti

Robert returned from a trip to Montana with a passel of Flathead Lake cherries--more than we'll be able to eat out of hand (which is a shame, 'cause these cherries are delicious!).  So, I've been doing some sweet cherry and honey recipe testing.  One result is this cherry clafouti (pronounced cla-FOO-tee). You don't need Flathead Lake cherries from Montana to make this dish--any sweet cherry will do.  You could also substitute fresh apricots, or even some very ripe pears.


Clafouti is a rich, eggy dessert--a kind of sturdy custard pie filling without the pastry.  The original  recipe, which calls for sugar,  is from Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World (2005).   Bittman claims that "this is one of the most successful spontaneous desserts you can add to your repertoire, yet fancy enough for a blowout dinner party."  That convinced me to give it a try, though I have to admit it's not among my favorite desserts (a bit too eggy for me).  I wasn't going to post it on the blog until I noticed that Rob's been making his way through it--even a few days after it was made!



Cherry Honey Clafouti
1 1/4 lbs sweet cherries, pitted (or 1 pound ripe apricots--halved and pitted; or 3-4 very ripe pears, stemmed, peeled, halved and cored)
1/3 cup honey (Bittman's recipe calls for 1/2 cup sugar)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (omit if using sugar)
1 1/2 cups half-and-half (or 3/4 cup heavy cream--or yogurt! and 3/4 cup milk)
pinch of salt.

Butter a gratin dish that's large enough to hold the fruit in one layer.  Sprinkle the dish with sugar.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Lay the cherries in the pan in one layer, cut side down.

Using a mixer (or whisk) beat the eggs until foamy. Slowly add the honey and beat until foamy and thick.  Add the vanilla extract or scrape the vanilla seeds into the mixture.  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour,  baking soda and salt together.  Add to the egg mixture and beat until thick and smooth.  Add the half-and-half (or cream and milk), stirring to combine.  Slowly pour the mixture over the fruit in the prepared gratin pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until clafouti is browned on top and a knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Sift confectioners sugar over top.  Serve warm or room temperature.  Serves 8 (easily).

Dairy-free Corn, Honey & Lime Ice "Cream"

Okay.  This recipe is admittedly a bit over the top, and I'm expecting a little good-natured ribbing from at least one of my two blog readers (thanks Mom & Dad!).

Mark Bittman's 7/7/12 op-ed in New York Times, "Got Milk? You Don't Need It?" finally convinced me to give dairy a break for a week.  I am an ardent ice cream fan (and have claimed to Robert, as I dish up a second scoop of Bruster's Dark Chocolate Ice Cream, that I can stop anytime I want).   What's an ice cream loving girl going dairy free to do?  Corn Honey & Lime Ice "Cream!"

We had a few ears of McConnell's Family Farm corn in our fridge left over from the weekend, and I came across a recipe for vegan Sweet Corn Ice Cream in Vegetarian Times.  Click on the link and it'll take you right there.  I, of course, swapped the agave syrup for honey, which calls into question whether this recipe is vegan now.   But this a blog about cooking with honey--and Corn & Lime Ice "Cream" is is a great dessert! It satisfies a confirmed ice cream lover's yearnings and it has the added bonus of being made with real food--not one goofy ingredient.  It's so good, I'd even recommend it to someone who isn't going dairy free!  After four hours in the freezer, it was the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.  A day later, it was very firm, yet still had a great mouth-feel.  This is NOT ice cream, so if you make it anticipating something exactly like ice cream, you may be disappointed.  But the flavor is wonderful and the texture is remarkably creamy given that there isn't a drop of cream in it.

Corn, Honey & Lime Ice "Cream"
4 cups cooked corn kernels (about four ears of corn)
1 cup cashews (I used roasted)
1/2  cup honey
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt (if needed)

In a food processor, puree 2 cups of corn with 1/2 cup cashews until finely ground.  Add one cup of water and process until relatively smooth.  Strain into a fine mesh sieve placed over a large bowl.  Process the other 2 cups of corn and 1/2 cup cashews as above.  Add another cup of water and process until smooth.  Pour in the sieve.  Press on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible and then discard the solids.  In a small bowl, combine the honey, lime zest, juice and vanilla extract and stir to combine well.  Add a few cups of the corn/cashew "juice" and blend well..  Whisk this into the rest of the corn/cashew mixture.  Taste and see if it needs salt.  Process the mixture in a ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.

Freeze for about four hours before serving.