472 



G Jj ]<: A N T K G S IN BEE U L T U R E 



August, 1920 



NOW we come to tlie subject of honey 

 in cooking. A few days ago one of the 

 editors of Gleanings asked me if I 

 used honey exclusively for sweetening baked 

 goods. No, I never did, unless it was during 

 the war with the accompanying sugar short- 

 age. It can be done, of course, but lioncy 

 is not as convenient as sugar fgr much of 

 the baking and cooking; its flavor is lost 

 ill some foods, and combined with certain 

 flavors it is positively unpleasant to my 

 taste. Honey should be used Avith common 

 sense, and if we beekeepers advocate its in- 

 discriminate use we are likely to prejudice 

 people against a delicious food. For in- 

 stance, honey is not at best in a delicate 

 white cake, altho it is invaluable in fruit 

 cakes, certain kinds of cookies and drop 

 cakes, chocolate cakes, and all kinds of sour 

 milk cakes, having the property of keeping 

 them moist, rich, and fresh tasting. 



Altho some people like the combination 

 of flavors I do not believe the average per- 

 son likes honey to sweeten such acid fruits 

 of pronounced flavor as cranberries, cur- 

 rants, cherries, sour plums, and the like. 

 Also, altho good fruit jellies may be made 

 with honey, I prefer sugar myself for this 

 reason — when making jelly with honey the 

 necessary boiling is likely to develop a very 

 slight caramel flavor. Please do not mis- 

 understand; I am not saying that good jelly 

 cannot be made with honey, with care, but 

 to advise it for jelly making is likely to 

 prejudice the public against it. There are 

 certain preserves which do not need so much 

 boiling, which are delicious made with honey. 

 Here are just a few of the flavors which 

 are especially fine combined with honey, — 

 pineapples, apricots, peaches, dried prunes, 

 raisins, dates, figs, almond, chocolate, cin- 

 namon and other spices. Honey seems to 

 develop the flavor of chocolate, and both 

 chocolate and cocoa when used as a beverage 

 are especially fine sweetened with honey. 

 Honey also seems to blend well with the 

 flavors as the raisin, fig, and date by the 

 drying process. 



AS to the use of honey in canning, no 

 special directions are needed for it. 

 The modern so-called cold-pack method 

 of canning requires that the sugar for sweet- 

 ening be made into a syrup and poured 

 over the fruit which is already packed in 

 the sterilized jars, and then cooked in the 

 canner for the required length of time. The 

 use of honey simplifies the process, because, 

 being already in the form of a. syrup it is 

 necessary only to dilute it with water to the 

 taste, heat it to the boiling point, and pour 

 over the fruit in the jars. 



As to the amount the honey should be 

 diluted with water for canning purposes, 

 that depends upon a number of things, prin- 

 cipally the taste of the consumers of the 

 canned fruit. Another thing to be tak- 

 en into consideration is whether the fruit is 

 put up for pies or other use in cooking. 

 Many housekeepers prefer fruit canned with 



little or no sweetening if it is to be used in 

 pies. It can then be sweetened to taste 

 when the pie is baked. 



Fruits in large pieces, such as i)eachcs or 

 pears, do not need as sweet a syrup as the 

 smaller fruits, for the reason that there is 

 more space between the pieces, leaving room 

 for a larger amount of syrup. In the case 

 of strawberries, a quart box may generally 

 be crowded into a pint jar without crush- 

 ing. This leaves very little room for syrup, 

 and the syrup should therefore be much 

 sweeter than in the case of large fruits to 

 obtain the same results. This is a point 

 which most writers on canning overlook. 



A syrup in the proportion of one cup of 

 honey to one cup of water is a good average 

 for the large fruits, altho even less honey 

 may be used, as fruit will keep without any 

 sweetening at all if properly sterilized in 

 the canning process. Two or three cups of 

 honey to one cup of water, or an even larger 

 proportion of honey may be used for the 

 small fruits, crowded into the cans. A sweet 

 syrup is also generally used for any very 

 acid fruits. 



Many writers on canning direct you to 

 boil the syrup down. This should never be 

 done when the syrup is made with honey, as 

 it will injure the flavor of the honey. Add 

 water in the proportion to suit your own 

 taste and then heat it only long enough to 

 make sure that it really boils. 



SEVERAL years ago on this page I de- 

 scribed an easy method of canning small 

 fruits which retains the natural flavor 

 to a greater degree than by any other 

 method, and for the sake of new subscribers 

 I am repeating it herewith. Prepare the 

 fruit as usual by washing, picking over or 

 hulling, if necessary; pack closely into steri- 

 lized jars, fill to overflowing with boiling 

 honey sj^rup, seal tightly at once and plunge 

 immediately into a boiler of boiling water 

 deep enough to cover the jar, turn out the 

 burner beneath or lift from the range, cover 

 closely and leave until the water is cold. As 

 an extra precaution it is well to wrap in a 

 large towel or blanket. If you are doing a 

 number of cans pack them all with the fruit 

 before pouring over the boiling syrup and 

 work rapidly to seal all the cans and im- 

 merse them in the boiling water before they 

 have time to cool. 



While I called this a method for small 

 fruits, sliced peaches have been done suc- 

 cessfully by this method and retained their 

 flavor to a wonderful degree. 



THP] following recipes for Bran Eaisin 

 Muffins, Sultana Biscuits, Raisin Bread, 

 Scones, and Conserve I adapted for the 

 use of honey from recipes published in an 

 article b}' C. Houston Goudiss in the Peo- 

 ple 's Magazine. I love to combine the two 

 natural sweets, honey and raisins. 



The bread recipe is reliable and easy and 

 may be made in the mixer without any 

 haiid-kneading. If your family is very small, 

 {Continued on page 503) 



