Jeremy Vincent’s sticky honey and pecan pudding recipe

There are so many ways you can include honey in your recipes. And what better place to start than this sticky honey and pecan pudding. Read the recipe here.

HONEY is “manufactured” in one of the world’s most efficient factories — the beehive.

Bees may travel many thousands of kilometres and visit millions of flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a kilogram of honey.

What they produce is nature’s original sweetener, which lately has been rediscovered as a natural source of energy that also offers a unique combination of nutritional benefits.

I often use honey in cooking at this time of the year, when the chill at the end of the day makes it the perfect opportunity for a comforting dessert.

STICKY HONEY AND PECAN PUDDING

Serves 4-6

100g butter, softened

100g caster sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs

100g self-raising flour

100g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

200ml honey

Whipped cream and/or ice cream and/or salted caramel sauce, to serve

Grease a one-litre pudding basin.

Cream the butter and sugar, add the zest and eggs, one at a time. Fold in the flour and then the pecans. Pour the honey into the pudding bowl and move the bowl around so that the liquid coats the sides of the bowl about halfway up. Carefully spoon in the batter.

Cover with baking paper, leaving a pleat in the middle for expansion and tie the paper with string.

Steam for 1 hour in a double boiler.

Allow to cool slightly before turning out on to a platter.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream and salted caramel sauce.

Drizzle on top: Honey and pecan pudding topped with ice cream and salted caramel sauce. Picture: Dannika Bonser

COOKING WITH HONEY, AN ALTERNATIVE TO SUGAR

BECAUSE of its high fructose content, honey has a higher sweetening power than sugar. This means that in cooking you can use less honey than sugar to achieve the desired sweetness. When you substitute honey for granulated sugar in recipes, begin by substituting honey for up to half of the sugar called for in the recipe. With a little experimentation, honey can replace all the sugar in some recipes.

When baking with honey, remember to reduce any liquid called for by ¼ cup for each cup of honey used and to add ½ teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used.

When measuring honey, either heat the measuring cup or spoon or coat with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil before adding the honey. The honey will slide off easily.

Use honey to sweeten your winter porridge or drizzle it over a grilled grapefruit half. Add honey and fresh fruit to yoghurt for an energy-sustaining snack, or stir a spoonful of honey into a glass of water before daily exercise.

WHICH HONEY?

THE colour and flavour of honey differs depending on the bees’ nectar source, the blossoms: clover, eucalyptus and orange blossom are a few examples, while in processing additives, such as lavender, can also be used to give distinctive characteristics.

Honey can range from almost colourless to dark amber brown and its flavour varies from delectably mild to richly bold. As a general rule, light-coloured honey is milder in taste and dark-coloured honey is stronger.

Honey also comes in a variety of forms including liquid, whipped and comb. Free of any crystals or wax, liquid honey is extracted from the comb in the hive by centrifugal force, gravity, straining or other means. Whipped honey (also known as creamed honey) is finely crystallised so that it remains creamy and spreadable. Comb honey is honey that comes as it was produced — in the honey bees’ wax comb.

STORAGE

STORE honey at room temperature. Storing it in the refrigerator accelerates the honey’s crystallisation, the natural process in which liquid in honey becomes solid.

If your honey crystallises, simply place the honey jar in warm water and stir until the crystals dissolve. Or, place the honey in a microwave-safe container with the lid off and microwave it, stirring every 30 seconds, until the crystals dissolve. Be careful not to boil or scorch it.

EASY HONEY MARINADE

FOR a delicious honey-based marinade for chicken, combine 1 cup of honey with ½ cup of orange juice, ¼ cup of lemon juice, ¼ cup of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon each of minced garlic, minced fresh ginger and chopped coriander.

BAKED CHOCOLATE APPLE DESSERT

TRY this easy autumn dessert, using baked apples, cored, their skins slashed around the middle to prevent bursting during cooking. Fill the cavity of the apple with pieces of dark cooking chocolate.

Arrange in a shallow baking dish with a little water and pour a generous tablespoon over each apple.

Bake until tender (40-50 minutes at 190C), basting with the glaze occasionally and adding more water if necessary.

MORE FOOD

LIGHT-AS-AIR CHOCOLATE CAKE

CHEESECAKE WITH STRAWBERRY SAUCE

PINEAPPLE LOAF