Honey Bee Good

Honey: nature’s natural sweetener. It’s gooey, sticky sweetness is the favorite of people around the world. Arguably it’s biggest fan? Me. I LOVE honey. I love it on toast, in peanut butter sandwiches, in tea, and by itself! Honey is the perfect ingredient to satiate my sweet tooth. If you've read my blog before, you'll rememer a mention of Honey Hut - an ice cream that uses honey as a sweetener...mm mm good!


Aside from its delicious flavor, honey also acts as a potent healer. Honey was and is still used widely as a medicine to help the healing of wounds and soar throats.

Did you know that there are many different kinds of honey? Orange blossom and tupelo honey give us delicately flavored honey while buckwheat, chestnut, and mesquite honey provide a more distinctive honey flavor.

We are taught from an early age that bees gather nectar from flowers create honey. Not only are honeybees important for the creation of our beloved honey, but they provide important pollination of the nation’s produce. In fact, they’re reportedly responsible for 15-30% of the food that U.S. consumers eat! It is alarming to hear the stories in the news lately regarding the decline in honeybee population: in the last half decade, the population of honeybees has decreased by almost 50%! Without remedying this situation, we may lose many of the fruits and veggies that we know and love. (Learn more here.)

So what can we do? One of the most well known ice cream brands, Haagen Daaz, has set up a program to educate people on the epidemic and help to improve the situation. Without honey bees, we wouldn't be able to enjoy delcious Haagen Daaz flavors like strawberry, vanilla and anything that has almonds in it (almonds are 100% reliant on our honeybee friends!) Definitely worth a read! And, it’s worth caring & helping out!

Still not convinced? Well…here is a DELICIOUS recipe that requires honey. Make it, taste it, then help the bees so you can make it again!

Honey Cake


3 1/2 c sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsps ground allspice
4 eggs
3/4 c white sugar
4 TBSP vegetable oil
2 c honey
1/2 c strong brewed coffee
1/2 c almonds
1/2 c raisins
1 1/2 c honey
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 c water
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 oz slivered almonds for topping

Cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and allspice. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, gradually adding the sugar. Beat until thick and light in color, about 5 minutes. Beat in the oil, honey and coffee. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture. Chop the almonds coarsely and mix with raisins. Stir into batter.

Oil the two pans and line the bottom with waxed paper. Oil again. Fill each pan with batter to within 1 - 1 1/4 inches from the top. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes until cake tests done. Do not overbake. Let cool 10 minutes and remove from pan.


To Make Glaze:

Boil together 1 1/2 cups honey, lemon juice, lemon zest and water. When glaze reaches a thick consistency, remove from heat and drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with almond slivers.