12/05/07

Cooking with Honey

Sugar will only add sweetness to  a recipe, but honey will add sweetness and add a subtle flavor. It is easiest to use recipes which have been developed for using honey, but many recipes can be adjusted to substitute honey for granulate sugar by following certain guidelines...

 Honey can be substituted for sugar in almost any recipe.  For each cup of sugar, substitute with a cup of honey but you must remove 3 Tablespoons of liquid.  Mild honeys, (Clover, Wildflower, Tupelo, Alfalfa) are good for any dish, while darker honeys are good in marinades and barbecue sauces. Citrus honeys, such as orange blossom will be good additions to fruit dishes as a sweetener.

When measuring honey, it is best to coat the measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray before adding the honey. The honey will slide right out of the cup.

Honey will impart a deep brown crust on bread products and helps the product stay moist and fresher longer. Cookies will be softer and more chewy when made with honey.

One cup of honey weighs 12 oz. One cup of water only weighs 8 oz.

The only disadvantage with using honey is that it is easier to burn the crusts of breads, so reducing the temperature by 25° F will prevent this.