Honey Drops

A local, organic and raw honey shines in these hard candies, which are perfect for sucking on or melting into a cup of tea.
 

Remember when I mentioned caramels and sour candy were the only two types of candy I truly enjoyed? I lied - or rather, I forgot - about the third one: honey candy. To be fair, I haven't had the privilege of eating one of those since I was about 7 years old - my mom used to work with a woman who had a home apiary and made the most incredible hard candy filled with her home-spun honey. I have never figured out how to make the liquid-filled variety of hard candy, but these nuggets of amber are just as amazing.

Even though honey is not the only sugar used in these (I'm sure it's possible, but I don't have a recipe for those), they taste of pure, unadulterated honey. That said, make sure the honey you use is one you love the flavour of (I used honey my coworker spun from her hives!), and don't pick a super dark one like buckwheat because it can taste on the bitter side. The size and shape of the candy is also up to you, and should match what you plan on doing with them - I used this silicone hexagonal mould, filled to the top, for candy pieces, but filling it halfway made perfect wafers for sweetening tea. For a small taste (or less tea sweetening), that ice cube mould from the Lemon Drops is perfect. Finally, I used the last of the candy syrup to pour swizzle sticks on silpat, which made honey lemon tea so easy to make.

Now, I'm harping on tea for this because that's a fairly standard application for honey, but you do you! I still firmly support eating these "just is" because they're flat-out delicious, even if they don't have any of the active, flu-fighting compounds found in raw honey. Hey, I never claimed they were medicine - but if you add some food-grade eucalyptus or ginger essential oil you might get a little added boost!

Honey Drops
Makes 12 oz, 24 (1/2 oz) servings
N.B.: measurements are dry weights
½ cup granulated sugar
6 oz (½ cup) liquid honey (I suggest clover, sourwood or orange blossom)
3.7 oz (⅓ cup) light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water

1. Prepare candy molds by spraying lightly with cooking spray.
2. Over a medium low heat, bring all the ingredients to a boil, stirring gently until sugar dissolves.
3. Stop stirring and boil until a candy thermometer reads 310 F.
4. Pour syrup into candy molds.
5. Allow to cool and harden at room temperature, at least 30 minutes (this will take longer if it’s humid). 

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 50.1
Total Fat: 0.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 5.6 mg
Total Carbs: 13.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
Protein: 0.0 g