MMMmonday & Book Review: Honey, I'm Homemade

 

Honey, I'm Homemade by May Berenbaum is a neat little book - part entomology, part history and all yummy!  Subtitled Sweet Treats from the Beehive across the Centuries and around the World, this book offers a look at where honey comes in the first chapter, entitled Honey: The A-Bee-C's.  It also takes the time to look at how various cultures use honey and how honey varies around the world - which is fascinating... but what is even sweeter are the recipes.


Divided into the following additional chapters, there are over 100 pages of divine recipes featuring honey:





Chapter 2   Cooking with Honey
Chapter 3   Drop Cookies
Chapter 4   Bar Cookies and Brownies
Chapter 5   Rolled Cookies
Chapter 6   Breads, Quick Breads, and Muffins
Chapter 7   No-Bake, Boiled, and Fried Desserts
Chapter 8   Pies and Puddings
Chapter 9   Cakes
Chapter 10 The Future of Honey, Honey Festivals, and Honey Bees


The recipes come from all over - some historical, some prize-winning, others from around the world.


Two of my favorites are 



Pfeffernüsse
The name pfeffernüsse translates literally to “pepper nuts” and refers, respectively, to the spicy taste and general shape of these traditional Christmas cookies from Germany.


Cookies
½ C honey ¼ t ground cardamom
½ C molasses or maple syrup ¾ t baking soda
3 T butter ½ t ground black pepper
3 C flour ½ t ground allspice
¾ t salt ¼ t ground anise seed
¾ t baking powder 1 egg
½ t ground cinnamon


Heat honey and molasses or syrup over low heat in a small saucepan for about 10 minutes. Add butter, stir until melted; remove from heat and let cool. 
In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. When honey mixture is lukewarm, whisk in the egg. Pour honey-egg mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing until well blended. 
The dough may be refrigerated to firm it up for easier rolling. 
Roll dough into small balls and bake on ungreased nonstick cookie sheets for 13–15 minutes, or until cookies hold their shape if tapped. Remove from pan and cool before frosting.
Yields 5–6 dozen small cookies.


Frosting
1 egg white ½ t vanilla
2 t honey 1½ C powdered sugar
Whisk egg white, honey, and vanilla together until creamy. Sift powdered sugar over mixture and mix until smooth. 
Place a handful of cookies in small bowl, drizzle with few tablespoons of frosting, toss carefully until coated. 
Place cookies on a rack so icing can drip off. Repeat until all cookies are frosted. 
Let cookies dry before moving.
Yields 1½ C frosting.


and



Pepero (Korean Fried Honey Sticks)
November 11 is celebrated in South Korea as Pepero Day because “11/11” is said
to look like pepero sticks.

1 C flour, sifted 2 T ginger juice
3 T sesame seed oil 2 T honey
3 T rice wine
No-Bake, Boiled, and Fried Desserts

Syrup
1 C sugar 1½ t ground ginger
1 C water 2 T pine nuts, finely minced
2 T honey 4 C vegetable oil for frying
½ t cinnamon

Mix flour and sesame seed oil together thoroughly. In a separate bowl, combine liquids and add to the flour. Knead to dough-like consistency. Flatten dough into a square ½ inch thick and cut into long thin strips, then cut each strip into three even portions. Use a fork to poke holes into the sticks.
In a separate pan, make syrup by mixing sugar and water and boiling to reduce volume to 1 C. Cool slightly and add honey, cinnamon, and ground ginger.
Heat oil to 350–375 degrees. Deep fry dough until golden brown. Dip the cookies into the honey syrup, allowing it to soak through. Sprinkle with chopped pine nuts before serving.

Note: If you don’t have ginger juice on hand, peel and grate fresh or frozen ginger root. Squeeze grated ginger through cheesecloth or a garlic press to extract the juice.

But the recipes vary to include such delicacies as Cranberry Pudding with Honey Sauce (Armenian), Gram Bea's Saskatoon Pie (Canadian), Melopita (Greek Ricotta and Honey Pie), Yemarina Yewotet Dabo (Spiced Ethiopian Honey Bread) and an abundance of other cookies, cakes, sweets and savories!

This book is a great kitchen resource for anyone who bakes and wants to experiment with using honey to flavor and sweeten their baking!  I highly recommend it to everyone with a sweet tooth and anyone who loves the sweet, sweet taste of honey!

And now for the regular recipe linky - add your favorite or recent recipe post:



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