Use honey to sweeten those
springtime recipes, naturally

(NC)-Spring is finally here, and as Earth Day is celebrated, thoughts turn to nature and all its miracles.

One of the most amazing of nature's miracles is the productive honey bee, as it gets busy making one of nature's most useful foods: honey. In fact, according to the National Honey Board (www.honey.com), bees can travel as far as 88,000 kilometres and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make a mere half kilogram of honey.

The bees' nectar source determines the honey's flavour and colour. There are more than 300 unique kinds of honey in North America, originating from many different floral sources. Generally, darker honeys are more strongly flavoured while lighter coloured honeys are milder in flavour. Canada is best known for its deliciously, light tasting clover honey.

Honey bees not only gather nectar to make honey, they also carry out an extremely important role in pollination. Approximately one-third of our diet is a result of insect pollinated plants. Amazingly, honey bees account for 80 per cent of this pollination. Almonds, apples, avocados, blueberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, sunflowers, watermelon all rely on honey bees for pollination.

More and more consumers are using honey as an ingredient because unlike most sweeteners, honey contains small amounts of vitamins, minerals and amino acids, as well as antioxidants. Honey is 100 per cent pure and natural, is a rich source of carbohydrates and baked goods sweetened with honey stay moister and fresher than those made with sugar.

"Recipes, specifically developed using honey will deliver the best results," says Caitlin Latham, group marketing manager for McCormick Canada, which operates the 50-year-old Billy Bee Honey Products Limited. "When exchanging honey for granulated sugar in recipes, substitute honey for up to half of the sugar in the recipe. Tips when substituting honey for sugar in baked goods: add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of honey used; reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used; and lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees to prevent over-browning."

Latham adds that coating the measuring spoon or cup with vegetable oil or non-stick cooking oil before using honey will make clean-up fast and easy.

And she notes that a common mistake is to store honey in the refrigerator, causing it to crystallize more quickly. If this happens, simply place the honey container in warm water and stir until the crystals dissolve.

Latham also reminds us that honey can be used in a variety of ways, from stirring it into a hot cup of tea to brushing it over baked ham; from adding it to a fruit smoothie for a quick burst of energy to drizzling it on ice cream or fruit, or spreading creamed honey on crepes or bran waffles instead of butter or margarine. Children love it as a dip for apple slices, carrots and celery sticks, and it's a wonderful complement to chicken fingers or nuggets.

And it can be used for home beauty treatments too. Because honey is a humectant, it attracts and retains moisture, making it an ideal "natural" moisturizer. It can be used when creating homemade facial masks or lip moisturizer.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- News Canada ©2008 Article & Photo

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(03-2009)

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