Honey Spreads

To avoid separation of honey and pureed fruits or nuts only crystallized honeys should be used. There are basically two techniques. The ingredients are mixed with the liquid honey at the same time as the seed crystals or they are mixed after the crystallization has been completed, to obtain either a hard or soft product, respectively. To mix dried fruits with crystallized and softened honey in small batches, a clean meat grinder may be used.

In the following recipe apricots have been used but other fruits can be selected and fruit proportions be increased until those of fruit spreads and marmalades are reached. When changing the type of honey and fruits, care should be taken that their flavours are compatible. Ingredients (in parts by weight) after Berthold (1988b)

If the moisture content of the honey is high and fermentation is possible, pasteurize the honey after mixing with the pureed or ground fruit at 65 ⁰C for 10 minutes. Add the seed honey to a small quantity of liquid honey. when evenly mixed, add to the rest of the liquid honey fruit mix. If a meat grinder is available and fermentation risk is low, the dry fruit and the seed honey plus a small quantity of liquid honey may be passed through it twice. Mix thoroughly with the liquid honey and fill into clean, wide-mouthed jars. Seal and leave to stand at 14 ⁰C for at least 5 days or until crystallized. Finally, clean the outside of the jars and apply an attractive label.

Honey tahena paste:

Ingredients (in parts by weight) modified after El-Shahaly et al., (1978):
 

Prepare the sesame seed butter (chop sesame seeds in a blender or grind until fine), emulsijy to prevent oil separation and add the honey. Optional additions are 0.1 part artificial honey flavour, 3 parts sorbitol (to decrease desiccation of the paste) or 2 parts lecithin (to improve texture and spreadability). Creamed honey should be used. Packed in either wide-mouth jars or aluminum tubes, the paste should be refrigerated at 6⁰C to prevent changes in appearance (oil separation) and organoleptic characteristics which may occur in even relatively short periods of time.

Dulce de Leche

For this very popular Argentinean spread which is normally made with refined sugar, honey is dissolved in a small amount of water. Milk is added, mixed well and boiled careflilly while stirring until the mixture has a creamy, paste-like consistency. Proportions may vary from 1:8 to 1.1 for the honey and milk depending on the desired flavour and consistency. Preparation from dried milk dissolved in very little water is possible and faster, but less heating will result in other flavours.