Honey Recipes

Honey Orange Poached Plums

 Ingredients:

750g firm plums

 (mixed varieties if you can get them)

140g clear honey

4 tbsp orange blossom water

300ml orange juice

biscuits and Greek yogurt (or frozen yogurt), to serve

Method:

Put the plums in a pan with just enough water to cover them, pour over the honey, orange blossom water and juice. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 mins until the plums are tender through to the stone, but not mushy.

Using a slotted spoon, lift out the plums to a serving dish. Bring the liquid back to the boil and simmer to a thin syrup. Pour over the plums and leave to cool. (You can peel the plums to serve, if you prefer.) 

Serve with crunchy biscuits, and Greek or frozen yogurt.

Sticky soy & honey pork with Asian noodles

Ingredients:

2 tbsp low-salt soy sauce

2 tbsp reduced salt and sugar ketchup

2 tbsp clear honey

1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

500g piece pork tenderloin, visible fat trimmed

140g medium egg noodle

2 tsp sesame oil

175g pack baby sweetcorn & sugar snap peas, halved lengthways

320g pack mixed pepper stir-fry vegetable

small bunch spring onion, sliced

Method:

Heat oven to 200C. Mix together the soy, ketchup and honey with the five-spice. Put the pork tenderloin on a baking tray and brush with just under half the sauce. Roast in the oven for 10 mins, then brush with a little extra sauce and return to the oven for a further 15 mins. 

Meanwhile, soak the noodles in boiling water until soft. Drain, reserving about 50ml of the water. Heat the sesame oil in a wok or large frying pan, add the corn and sugar snap peas, and stir-fry for 3 mins, adding the water to help the veg steam. 

Add the stir-fry veg and half the spring onions, and cook for 3 mins more until wilted. Tip in the noodles and the rest of the sauce. Using tongs, mix everything to combine. Remove the pork, cut into slices and serve on top of the noodles. Scatter with remaining spring onions.

Devonshire honey cake

Ingredients:

250g clear honey, plus about 2 tbsp extra to glaze

225g unsalted butter

100g dark muscovado sugar

3 large eggs, beaten

300g self-raising flour

Method:

Preheat the oven to fan 140C/ conventional 160C/gas 3. Butter and line a 20cm round loosebottomed cake tin. Cut the butter into pieces and drop into a medium pan with the honey and sugar. Melt slowly over a low heat. When the mixture looks quite liquid, increase the heat under the pan and boil for about one minute. Leave to cool for 15-20 minutes, to prevent the eggs cooking when they are mixed in. 

Beat the eggs into the melted honey mixture using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour into a large bowl and pour in the egg and honey mixture, beating until you have a smooth, quite runny batter. 

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 50 minutes-1 hour until the cake is well-risen, golden brown and springs back when pressed. A skewer pushed into the centre of the cake should come out clean. 

Turn the cake out on a wire rack. Warm 2 tbsp honey in a small pan and brush over the top of the cake to give a sticky glaze, then leave to cool. Keeps for 4-5 days wrapped, in an airtight tin.