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DrBeekeeper’s Healthy Honeylicious Brittle Recipe

This is a great recipe, a perfect Autumnal snack (but also full of goodness!). Try experimenting with different combinations of nuts and dried fruits…

Ingredients

  • 150 grams Almonds
  • 150 grams Cashews
  • 100 grams Pumpkin or Sunflower Seeds
  • 100 grams dried Cranberries or Raisins or Goji Berries (or a mixture!)
  • 150 grams Granulated Sugar
  • 75 grams DrBeekeeper Honey
  • 250 ml Water
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 tablespoon Butter

Method

Heat the sugar, honey, water and salt in a large heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Stir lightly every 7 to 10 minutes (but not constantly). The mixture should eventually go hard if dropped in cold water. This can take time so be patient (if you have a thermometer, heat the mixture until it reaches a temperature of 120 °C.

Once you have reached the required temperature / consistency, just add your nuts and fruit mix and pour the combined mixture over a shallow tray which has been lined with lightly greased parchment paper.

Wait for the brittle to cool and then enjoy!

We’d love to hear from you with your favourite honey themed recipes – please send them here!

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DrBeekeeper’s Beekeeping Diary: October 2015

Beekeeping Diary this October…

Sadly, the beekeeping season in the UK is now over and as the nights (as well as days) continue to get colder we’ll see less and less of our bees.  We usually winter our hives with a super underneath the brood box.  If you decide to do this, make sure there is no queen excluder during the winter months.  This is also a good time to protect the hives from woodpeckers and mice.

We’ve got some great posts coming up this month…let us know if you have any favourite honey recipes or ideas to help save the bees (#savethebees) and we’ll feature these in our blog 🙂

Coming up this month

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DrBeekeeper – Save The Bees: Beekeeping news from across the globe

In the latest beekeeping news…. LITTLEROCK, WASHINGTON STATE, USA – a new batch of trainee beekeepers are learning the ropes as part of a Sustainability in Prisons Project. The idea is to equip inmates with new skills, opportunities and aspirations in preparation for a return to society. Beekeeping really is a lesson in life!

In other developments, according to a recent EU commission study, neonicotinoids have been found to be even more damaging for the bee population than originally thought, Greenpeace’s agriculture policy director, Marco Contiero has said:

“The EU commission should expand the EU-wide ban to cover all uses of neonicotinoids on all crops, and end the self-service approach to derogations. Viable non-chemical alternatives exist and the EU should encourage farmers to use them.”

Use of neonicotinoids by farmers has been linked to dramatic declines in bee populations. The EU’s recommendations do however allow exemptions to the ban under certain circumstances, which unfortunately the UK government has invoked to relax restrictions.

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DrBeekeeper’s Grilled Peaches with Honey and Yoghurt Recipe

DrBeekeeper's Peaches
DrBeekeeper’s homegrown peaches

Peaches are in season and at their peak. This simple recipe is a great way to enjoy them!

Ingredients

  • peaches halved
  • honey and greek-style yoghurt to serve

Method

  1. Heat a griddle or heavy frying pan and grill the peaches for 2-3 minutes on both sides until soft and golden brown.
  2. Serve with a drizzle of your favourite honey and a dollop of the greek yoghurt.

We’d love to hear from you with your favourite honey themed recipes – please send them here!

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DrBeekeeper’s Beekeeping Diary: September 2015

Beekeeping Diary this September…

DrBeekeeper Beekeeping

It’s that time of year again, as a beekeeper, to take a break after harvesting the honey for the year.   But there’s just a few things to do before this as we prepare for winter!  Any honey in the supers should have been harvested by now and for anyone using varroa treatments these should have been completed.  It’s also a good time to make sure there are enough stores for the bees this winter.  Some beekeeper’s feed their bees with a heavy syrup (2lb sugar for every 1 pint of water), but at DrBeekeeper we prefer to keep things as close to nature as possible and prefer to leave some honey filled frames for the bees to enjoy over the winter.  Finally the hive needs to be reorganised: the queen excluder should be removed and a super should be placed underneath the brood box.  If you have a mesh floor, remove the floor insert to allow ventilation, and close off the holes in the crownboard as these are not necessary for ventilation over winter.  And that’s it! You’re ready for winter 🙂

If none of that made sense, but you want to find out more, please visit our guide to getting started with beekeeping.

Coming up this month

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DrBeekeeper’s Honey and Lime Cheesecake Recipe – sweet and citrusy treat!

This no-bake cheesecake recipe is easy to prepare.  Fruity, tangy and just delicious it works best with a mild light honey.  Serves 8

Ingredients

  • 175g digestive biscuits
  • 75g butter
  • 6 tbsp light raw DrBeekeeper honey
  • 350g mascarpone cheese
  • 3 limes, grated rind and juice of 2, the third juice only (for the cheesecake filling)
  • 300ml double cream
  • 250g strawberries, sliced
  • 150g raspberries

Total preparation time: 30 minutes (allow for overnight chilling time)

Instructions

To make the base, carefully crush the biscuits in a plastic bag using a rolling pin or blitz in a food processor until fine crumbs.

Heat the butter and 2 tbsp of honey in a medium saucepan, stir in the crumbs and mix well.  Tip into a buttered 23cm/9inch spring form tin and press over the base firmly with the end of a rolling pin.  Chill while making the cheesecake.

Add the mascarpone cheese to a large mixing bowl and soften with a whisk. Add 3tbsp of the honey then gradually whisk in the lime rind and juice.  Gradually whisk in the cream until the mixture has just thickened.  Spoon into the biscuit lined tin, spread into an even layer and chill for 4 hours or overnight until firm.

To make the topping, bring 1 tbsp of honey and lime juice just to the boil in a medium saucepan. Add the berries, cook for 2 minutes, gently stirring until the juices just begin to run then leave to cool.

Run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake, remove the tin sides and base and transfer cheesecake to a serving plate. Spoon the berry sauce on top.

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DrBeekeeper Honey Chilli Chicken Recipe… mouth-wateringly tasty!

Naturally honey is great in a huge variety of delicious deserts.  But don’t forget this sweet syrupy textured ingredient can also be combined with spices to add a new dimension to your supper.  What a great way to use DrBeekeeper Honey!  Why not give it a go?

DrBeekeeper Honey Chilli Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

• Vegetable or sunflower oil
• 2 chicken breasts
• Plain flour
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 80ml water
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 2 teaspoons cornflour
• 3 tablespoons of DrBeekeeper honey
• 2 tablespoons of grated ginger and 1 inch of finely sliced ginger
• 3 crushed cloves of garlic
• Handful of finely sliced spring onions
• 3 red chillies and 1 tsp crushed dry chilli (add more for extra heat, or less for a milder dish)

Method

  1. Juice the lemons into a bowl, add the chilli sauce, soy sauce, water and cornflower and stir together.  Set aside.
  2. Cut the chicken breast into thin strips, add salt, black pepper and the flour and coat the chicken.  Set aside.
  3. In a wok heat 2 tbsp of your rapeseed or sunflower oil.
  4. Add the crushed garlic and fry the chicken until it is golden brown.  This will take around 8 mins.  Then add the grated ginger and fresh red chilli.
  5. 2 minutes later add your honey to the wok and stir whilst it begins bubbling away for another minute or two.  Then add the prepared lemon juice, dipping sauce, soy sauce, water and cornflower.  Keep stirring and bring to the boil, allowing the sauce to thicken slightly.  This will take 3 or 4 minutes.
  6. Garnish with sliced spring onions and ginger.
  7. Serve with rice or noodles.  And enjoy!
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Turkish Baklava Recipe – delicious with DrBeekeeper honey!

This delicious Turkish baklava recipe is really tasty topped with flaked almonds, cashew nuts and pistachios.

Ingredients

For the filling

  • 100g toasted almonds
  • 100g cashew nuts
  • 100g pistachios nuts

For the syrup

For the filo

  • 15 sheets ready-made filo pastry
  • 100g unsalted butter, melted

Preparation and method

  1. For the filling, combine the almonds, cashews and pistachios in a blender and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside.
  2. To make the syrup, combine the sugar and DrBeekeeper honey with 250ml water in a medium saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes then set aside to cool. Don’t allow the syrup to burn!
  3. Allow the syrup to cool completely.
  4. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and grease a baking tray with butter.
  5. Brush a sheet of pastry with butter then fold it over. Spread about a tablespoon of the filling mixture over it, leaving a 5mm/¼in border on all sides.
  6. Starting at one of the long edges, roll up the filo into a long cylinder shape. Brush generously with butter and roll the cylinder into a tight spiral. Brush with butter again and place on the prepared baking tray. Repeat the process with the remaining sheets of filo and place them next to each other in the baking tray.
  7. Bake for 50 minutes, or until golden-brown.
  8. When cooked, spoon half the syrup all over the hot baklavas. Leave for five minutes and then spoon over the remaining syrup. Let the baklava cool and then serve.
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My wonderful honey has crystallised… Now what?

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How to store Honey?

People often contact DrBeekeeper to ask about storing their honey.

It’s really quite simple if you follow this golden rule:

  • Honey is best stored at room temperature (ideally at around 21ºC).

A kitchen cupboard is ideal.  Avoid storing honey on a window sill where the night temperature can drop quite low or in the fridge (although interestingly honey will actually crystallise less at really cold temperatures; I will tell you why in a future post).

My wonderful honey has crystallised… Now what?

Many people throw their honey out when it starts to crystallise. But this is a hasty response and an expensive mistake.

Honey will naturally crystallise, and this happens for many reasons and at different speeds depending on the type of honey.

The key point for now is that the storage temperature really does influence how quickly honey will crystallise and crystallisation is most rapid around 10-15 ºC.

What to do with crystallised honey?

If your honey crystallizes, simply follow these 6 steps:

  1. Bring a pan of water to the boil
  2. Turn off the heat and wait a few minutes (for best results the water should be around 40 ºC)
  3. Place the jar of honey in the warm water
  4. Remove the lid (but don’t allow water to get in)
  5. Allow the honey and water to cool together.
  6. Fasten lid and dry the jar ready for storage.

Visit DrBeekeeper online store to order delicious raw honey!