Guest post by Amber Shehan
Do you like a little sweet with your heat? Cayenne infused honey makes a great gift for the foodie or grill enthusiast in your life. Use cayenne honey in marinades, BBQ sauces, or home made salad dressing to add a sweet kick.
You can also enjoy cayenne honey stirred by the spoonful into a cup of tea. Cayenne can help to clear your sinus, and it also acts as a gentle stimulant which helps you to fight the chills of a cold.
Let’s talk about honey for a moment, since it is the core flavor of this recipe. I always encourage that you purchase local wildflower honey from a beekeeper in your area. This helps to support their hobby, which supports the bees, who support our food production through pollination.
Cayenne Infused Honey
This process works best if you warm the honey up. It is easiest to heat the honey in a double boiler (if you don’t own one, there are video instructions for “faking” one, below) or other indirect heating method. You don’t want to get it too hot – just warm enough to stir easily.
- Double-boiler, or other indirect heating method
- 12 oz of honey (or 1 cup, preferably raw and local)
- A number of small, individual jars – sanitized. You can reuse any small jars, such as baby food jars, or 4oz jelly jars.
- 1/2 tsp of cayenne powder
- A few red pepper flakes (or dried peppers, crushed)
- Stirring device for the honey. I suggest a chopstick or skewer.
Wash and then sanitize your jars by letting them soak in boiling water. Remove, dry, and set aside to let them cool off.
Bring the double boiler to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and add the honey to the top pot. Allow it to warm, stirring gently every now and again.
Once it can be stirred easily, add the cayenne powder, a bit at a time. Stirring with something thin like a chopstick helps to reduce throwing the cayenne in the air and getting it everywhere.
Give it a stir, and let it sit on low heat for at least ten minutes.
Take a taste! Cool off a bit to taste by drizzling some warm honey onto a glass plate. Let it sit a moment, and then give it a try. Adjust the flavor, but stop just before it is at a strong heat, as there is more pepper to come!
Sprinkle a few crushed pepper flakes into each jar. If you are using dried peppers, don’t forget that the seeds hold most of the heat – keep that in mind when you are preparing the jars.
Transfer your honey into something easy to pour from, like a pyrex measuring cup. Pour the warm honey into the jars, put the lids on, and set them aside to cool.
That’s it! Allow the honey to cool completely before opening and using it. The honey will only get stronger as time goes on. I have a jar from two or three years ago where just one little lick of honey from the spoon will warm my ears and toes!
How to “fake” a double boiler:
7 Comments
[…] My first post is on how to infuse delicious honey with equally delicious cayenne pepper for a spicy and sweet treat. Go check it out! […]
Can you use fresh cayenne pepper instead of powder? If so how would that work? We have a ton of fresh from our garden.
Lori, I am so sorry, I never received notification of your comment! Using fresh peppers is great, too. You don’t even have to warm up the honey. Just chop peppers, put them in a jar, cover them with honey, and let it sit unopened for two weeks. Then, strain out the peppers and store your spicy, runny honey in the fridge so it doesn’t spoil!
Enjoy!
I would only use dried peppers. The moisture content in fresh peppers might raise the moisture content of the honey enough to allow it to spoil while in storage.
I guess if you were going to consume it right away fresh peppers might work but I wouldn’t suggest it.
Let me know if you try it !
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It is a bad idea to heat a honey, you will destroy all antioxidants !