It’s sticky in my kitchen! I’m getting ready for the Ark of Taste Honey event next week at the Carriage Barn Arts Center in New Canaan.
I’ll be working with and tasting RedBee’s beautiful single-origin artisanal honey and getting some tips, on heirlooms and local foods from Analiese Paik of the Fairfield Green Food guide.
I truly love cooking with honey. The different floral bouquets create a vast range of aromas, enhancing and providing sweetness and deep complex flavors to many dishes.
For this event I’m making a carrot, honey ginger soup, and honey citrus soaked cakes. I chose these two recipes because I wanted to showcase the honey and show off the it’s versatility.
Both recipes are simple and heart warming. I also chose them because, they are not only easy to make, but also beautiful, and they would be perfect, for a simple but elegant evening supper with loved ones.
The carrot, honey, ginger soup is silky, lush, and pure goodness. The sweetness and complexity of the red currant honey combined with the heat of the ginger and the tanginess of the lemon, make each bite spicy, sour and bright.
The honey citrus soaked cake is dense, moist, sticky and honey and citrus-scented. It’s one of those cakes loved by both adults and kids, and it’s very pretty baked in a loaf pan or in individual servings tins.
If you are in the mood for some extra work, I would also make baked fruit, drizzled with honey, to accompany this gooey lemony cake. I have some rhubarb in my fridge and I’ll use it tonight; but crispy apples would be yummy too.
Ladle the soup in some pretty bowls, arrange the cake on a nice tray, throw some logs on the fireplace, and share your goodies with your honeys.
To share some love and get busy in the kitchen, check the recipes below.
If you want to read about the honey event at Carriage Barn Art Center click on the link below:
To learn more about RedBee honey and Fairfield Green Food Guide click on :
RedBee Single Origin Artisanal Honey
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4 Servings | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 45 minutes |
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I love this soup. I used Red Bee currant honey. The smokey notes of cherry, and the undertones of anise, combined with the spiciness of ginger, and the sweetness of carrots, melt together creating a wonderful comforting soup. Good for the soul, and the belly.
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- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 1/2 Pounds Carrots Chopped
- 1 Whole Onion Chopped
- 1 Clove garlic Chopped
- 1 Piece Peeled Fresh Ginger, 4 inches long Chopped
- 3 Sticks celery Chopped
- 4 Cups stock Chicken or vegetable
- 3 Tablespoons Honey
- 1 Whole bay leaf
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley or coriander Chopped
- Melt the butter in to a heavy pot, stir in the carrots, onion, garlic, celery and ginger. Sweat gently over low heat for about 15 to 10 mines. Add a sprinkle of salt.
- Add the hot stock, stir in one tablespoon of honey, the bay leaf and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes. It's done when the carrots are very soft. Fish out the bay leaf and discard.
- Blend in batches or with an immersion blender. Careful, hot liquids explode and burn! Push the soup through a sieve. Don't by pass this step. It's the difference between a mediocre soup and a silky, smooth velvety one. Plus nobody likes to be stuck with ginger fibers in between their teeth.
- Put the soup back on the stove, in a clean pot. Add some stock or water to thin it as needed. Add the double cream and the remaining two tablespoons of honey, squeeze a little lemon and reheat gently. Season to taste.
- Serve hot with a sprinkle of parsley or cilantro.
- 2 sticks Butter softened
- 1 1/4 cup granulates sugar caster
- 1 zest lemon organic
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs organic
- 1/2 cup plain flour you can substitute one cup of grounded pistachio for a gluten free cake
- 2 cups ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 zest and juice lemon grate zest , you can substitute an orange with the lemon
- 1/2 cup Honey
- Heat the oven at 350 F. Butter a 9 1/2 inch spring-form pan and line the bottom with parchment.
- Beat the, butter, sugar lemon zest and vanilla in a mixing bowl until white and fluffy. You can use a kitchen aid or by hand.
- Beat in the eggs one at the time. You can sprinkle in one tablespoon of the flour after each egg to tup the curdling.
- Gently fold the remaining flour and almonds, baking powder and a pinch of salt, until smooth.
- Spread one the base of the spring-form cake pan and bake until firm to the touch, about 40 minutes.
- Take the cake out from the oven and place on a wire rack. Leave in the cake pan to cool completely.
- While the cake cools off, make the honey lemon syrup. Gently warm the honey, lemon juice and zest in a small pan over low heat for about 5 minutes. It will be liquid but not boiling.
- Pour over the cake, then leave it to cool.
- You can bake a day ahead.
- 10 stalks rhubarb cut in to 4 inches pieces
- 1 large orange, juice and zest finely grate zest
- 4 tablespoons Honey you might want to warm it up to make runny
- Preheat the oven at 300 F.
- Place the rhubarb in a single layer on an oven proof dish lined with baking paper. Sprinkle the grated orange zest and pour the juice over it. Drizzle the honey and gently mix.
- Cover loosely with foil and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until fork tender.
- Leave to cool. It can bee kept with the syrupy juices in a sealed container in the fridge for a week.
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