Tag: Honey

Honey Loaf

  • I got this recipe from an English friend who lives in Harrogate.
  • It is easy to make and is a bit different to my Polish honey cakes – miodownik or piernik.
  • But I think it could be served over the Christmas period.
  • This recipe does NOT use any eggs nor butter nor oil.

Ingredients

  • 225g plain flour
  • 115g granulated sugar
  • 115g runny honey, plus around a tablespoon to glaze
  • 150 ml hot water
  • 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
  • Zest of 1 lemon

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM3 – 160ºC.
  • Use a liner to line a 1lb loaf tin.
  • Use a little oil or butter on the liner as the cake is quite sticky.
  • Mix together the flour and the sugar in a large bowl.
  • In a saucepan melt together the honey and the water.
  • Sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda over the honey mixture and stir.
  • Add this to the dry ingredients.
  • Add the lemon zest.
  • Mix everything well together till all is uniform.
  • Turn the mixture into the loaf tin.
  • Bake for 50 – 60 minutes.
  • Check at 50 minutes and cover the top of the loaf with greaseproof or foil  so it does not burn.
  • Remove the loaf from the tin and allow it to cool.
  • Heat the honey (with a little but of water if not so runny) slightly.
  • Brush the top of the loaf with the honey.

  • Option – different size.
  • Use a 26 x 16 cm baking tray.
  • Grease and line – 3 sides with one piece of greaseproof.
  • Bake for 25 – 30 minutes.

Courgette Soup – 2

  • This is a more hefty soup than my other courgette soup recipe.
  • The addition of honey and pears adds a  lovely sweetness.
  • But the lemon stops it being too sickly.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 courgettes
  • 2 medium potatoes
  • 2 pears
  • 1 litre of vegetable stock
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 1 lemon rind & juice
  • *
  • Optional to serve
  • Chopped chives or flat leafed parsley.
  • Cooked Pasta

METHOD

  • Chop the courgettes into small pieces.
  • Peel the potatoes and chop into small pieces.
  • Peel and core the pears then chop into small pieces.
  • Bring the stock to the boil and add the courgettes and potatoes.
  • Simmer for around 10 minutes.
  • Add the pears and simmer for another 10 minutes.
  • Take the pan off the heat and liquidise the soup with  a stick blender.
  • *
  • Bring back to simmer.
  • Add the honey, lemon rind & juice, stir and serve.
  • *
  • Add chopped chives or flat leafed parsley if you have some.
  • *
  • You can also serve this with cooked chunky pasta.

Royal Stafford Blossom Time rimmed soup plate & Royal Doulton Carnation soup bowl

Battered Aubergines

  • Bakłażan is the Polish for aubergine.
  • This recipes you can often find in recipes for tapas.
  • I have used this batter as one of three batters in my post on Battered Cauliflower
  • *
  • If you liked my recipe for Breaded Aubergines I am sure you will like this as well.

  • Ingredients

  • 1 Aubergine
  • Salt
  • *
  • Batter
  • 100g flour
  • 25Oml very cold sparkling water
  • *
  • Sunflower oil to fry
  • Runny honey to serve
  • Ground black pepper

Method

  • Slice the aubergine into circles and place into a colander.
  • Sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes. 
  • Dry them off with kitchen paper.
  • *
  • Whisk the sparking water into the flour – you might not want all of it.
  • You are aiming for a batter like single cream.
  • *
  • Coat the aubergine slices in the batter.
  • Fry in hot sunflower oil.
  • Make sure both sides are cooked.
  • *
  • Dry them off on kitchen roll.
  • You can keep them warm in an oven whilst you cook the rest.
  • *
  • Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.
  • Serve with a little runny honey.

Vintage Pyrex plate

Honeyed Parsnips

  • With parsnips being in all the shops at the moment, I thought of my recipe for honeyed carrots and altered it a little for the parsnips
  • The parsnips are cut into ‘fingers’.
  • How you cut the parsnips depends on their size – try to get them roughly equal.

Ingredients

  • 4 large – 8 medium parsnips
  • 2 tablespoons runny honey

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Lightly grease a baking tray.
  • Peel and cut the parsnips into quarters or eighths.
  • Bake in the oven, turning once or twice, for 40 – 45 minutes.
  • Drizzle the honey over the parsnips and turn to coat as much as possible.
  • Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
  • *
  • Serve with roast meats such as chicken, duck or pork.

Serving dish – Allerton & Sons

Pork with Honeyed Plums

  • I previously wrote about pork with soured plums.
  • This time the recipe uses honey to sweeten the plums.
  • I have previously posted the recipe for honeyed plum sauce.
  • The pork is cooked separately from the plums.
  • Grilled pork chops or roast loin of pork works well. 

Ingredients

  • 10 plums
  • 250ml water (maybe a little extra)
  • 4-6 tablespoons of runny honey

Method

  • Simmer the plums gently in the water.
  • Stir until the plums fall apart.
  • Add extra water if needed.
  • Add as much honey as required to taste.
  • Remove the stones – optional.
  • Serve hot with the cooked pork.

  • Served on a Royal Doulton – Burgundy plate

Honeyed Plum Sauce

  • Super with meats such as chicken, duck and pork.
  • Also with great with desserts and with yoghurt.

Ingredients

  • 10 plums
  • 250ml water (maybe a little extra)
  • 4-6 tablespoons of runny honey

Method

  • Simmer the plums gently in the water.
  • Stir until the plums fall apart.
  • Add extra water if needed.
  • Add as much honey as required to taste.
  • Remove the pips – optional.
  • Serve hot with meats or chilled with desserts.

Little Honey Cakes

  • This recipe, which only uses honey as the sweetener, is based on an old Yorkshire recipe.
  • It would be quite “at home” with Polish recipes for pierniczki.

INGREDIENTS

  • 100g butter
  • 225 plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 130g runny honey
  • 1 egg – beaten
  • 1 teaspoon mixed spice
  • 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • (A little milk – maybe needed)

METHOD

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM 5 – 190°C.
  • Grease two large baking trays.
  • Mix the baking powder with the flour.
  • Rub in the butter till it is like breadcrumbs.
  • Add the mixed spices, caraway seeds and ginger.
  • Mix in the honey and egg to give a soft dough.
  • (Should it not be soft enough – add a dash of milk).
  • With lightly floured hands make balls with the dough (larger than walnut).
  • Place the balls on the baking tray – leaving room for them to spread.
  • Flatten the balls slightly.
  • Bake for 15 – 20 minutes.
  • Leave them to cool on the trays before removing.

Honey Cake – Miodownik 4

  • This is based on an old English recipe and is a bit lighter than my other Polish honey cakes.
  • There are no spices in the original recipe but you can of course add them.

Ingredients

  • 150g butter
  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 150ml honey
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 2 eggs – beaten
  • 200g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180 C.
  • Grease and line a 26 x 16cm baking tin.
  • In a saucepan gently melt the butter and sugar.
  • Add the honey and stir.
  • Add the milk and stir again.
  • Leave to cool.
  • Mix in the eggs.
  • Mix the baking powder with the flour.
  • Add the flour to the mixture to give a smooth batter.
  • Pour the batter into the tin and smooth the top.
  • Bake for 30 – 35 minutes.
  • Check that the top is not burning and cover with baking paper if necessary.
  • Leave to cool in the tin.

Crown bone china tea plate

Pear & Walnut Salad

  • A very simple and slightly sweet salad.
  • Good with hot roast meats, chicken or duck.
  • Or even serve as a light lunch with bread and butter.

Ingredients

  • 2 large pears – peeled and chopped.
  • 100g walnuts – chopped
  • 100g crumbly white cheese – dry twaróg, Wensleydale or Lancashire
  • Mixed salad or shredded lettuce
  • *
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 1 tablespoon of virgin olive oil

Method

  • Put the salad leaves or lettuce at the base of the serving dish.
  • Mix the pears and walnuts together.
  • Put these on top of the salad leaves.
  • Crumble the cheese on top.
  • Mix the dressing together and pour over the top.
  • Mix the salad together and serve.

Miodownik – 3

  • This is honey & spice cake, which could be made for Christmas time.
  • I saw this cake recently in a post by Thistles and Kiwis thistlesandkiwis.org whose interesting blog I follow. 
  • It is adapted from “In Good Company” by Sophie Hansen.
  • I have adapted it a little to make it more like a Polish Cake.
  • In this cake butter is used rather than oil as in my Mama’s miodownik.
  • This cake can be made at the last minute for Wigilia(Christmas Eve) or Christmas Day.

Ingredients

  • 150g butter
  • 240g runny honey
  • 260g plain flour
  • 3 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ginger
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 3 eggs – beaten
  • 200g full fat Greek style yoghurt
  • *
  • Icing sugar to dust or lemon icing

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C
  • Grease and line a 32 x 22cms or 26 x 20cm cake tin.
  • Melt the butter in a saucepan.
  • Add the honey and mix well together.
  • Add the orange zest.
  • Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
  • Mix the baking powder and flour together.
  • Add the sugar and spices.
  • Add the eggs and yoghurt and mix well.
  • Add the butter and honey mixture.
  • Mix everything together to give a thick batter.
  • Pour into the prepared tin.
  • Cook for 30 -35 minutes.
  • Leave to cool on a wire rack.
  • *
  • Dust with icing sugar to serve or glaze with a thin lemon icing.*

Royal Standard – Lyndale tea plate – 1949 – 1960.

*Option – Add a Chocolate glaze – this one was some Chocolate with Orange Peel melted with butter.

  • The china tray is by Ross Dean in Burslem
  • The octagonal tea plate is by Paragon – Made in England and hand-painted.