Honey in the kitchen, step by step

1. Honey as a food

Honey is good, but first of all it is sugar: by the teaspoon, not by the jar.

1. Honey is sugar — Honey is 80 % sugar, the rest mostly water. It is good, but by the teaspoon.
2. Kitchen measures — A teaspoon holds roughly 7 g of honey, a tablespoon 21 g, and 100 ml about 140 g.
3. A spoon that doesn't stick — First wipe the spoon or cup with a little oil or rinse it in hot water, and the honey slides off by itself. For precise recipes, weigh honey on scales.
4. Choose the honey — Clover and acacia are mild, heather, chestnut and honeydew strong. Choose a mild honey for baking.

Why: Honey is roughly 38 % fructose, 31 % glucose and 17–18 % water. Small amounts of acids, enzymes and minerals give it taste and colour, but nutritionally honey is sugar. For teeth, weight and diabetes, the same applies as for sugar.

• 100 g of honey has about 300 kcal, and 100 g of sugar 400 kcal.
• A US cup (240 ml) holds about 340 g of honey, and a 1 lb jar 454 g.

2. Honey instead of sugar

Honey is sweeter than sugar, holds moisture and browns faster in the oven, so the recipe needs a little adjusting.

1. The same weight — Use roughly the same weight of honey as sugar: 100 g of sugar = 100 g of honey. For less sweetness use 10–15 % less.
2. Less liquid — Reduce the milk, water or juice by roughly 0.2 ml for every gram of honey. For 100 g of honey that is about 20 ml less.
3. A pinch of soda — Add about 1 g of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) per 300 g of honey. It neutralises the acidity of honey and helps the rise.
4. A lower oven — Set the oven 10–15 °C (25 °F) lower than the recipe says, and keep an eye on the cake from halfway through. In a new recipe, replace only half the sugar first.

Why: Cakes with honey stay soft for longer, but get sticky. Fructose caramelises at a lower temperature, so the cake burns on top sooner. A 1 : 1 swap without less liquid gives a runny batter.

• Sponge and whisked egg whites rise poorly with honey, so keep the sugar there.
• Honey doesn't replace sugar in jam, whole-fruit preserves or bottled fruit without a tested recipe.

3. Honey biscuits and syrup · Locked

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4. Herbal honey and oxymel · Locked

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6. Pollen, comb and care · Locked

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