Honeyed Hazels
Season: September. You’ve got to be quick to beat the squirrels to the hazelnuts each autumn. Once you have found some, it’s important to store them carefully. Even with their shells on, they have a tendency to dry out and shrivel up, but preserving them in hone will keep them fresh and fragrant for ages. Use wild hazels that you have gathered yourself, or filberts, which are simply a cultivated form of hazelnut. Spoon your honeyed hazels over plain yogurt, chocolate ice cream, porridge, or muesli.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about three 4-ounce jars
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Start by inviting your friends round for a nut-cracking evening (they’ll come the first year, but maybe not the next). Crack all the nuts and remove the kernels.
Step 2
Heat a frying pan over low heat. Toast the shelled nuts in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, jiggling and shaking the pan to make sure they don’t burn. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Step 3
Pack the nuts into sterilized jars (see p. 21), adding 1 tablespoon of the honey at every third or fourth layer. Continue until the jars are chock-a-block full, making sure that the nuts are well covered in honey. Seal securely with a lid (see p. 22) and store in a cool, dry, dark place. Use within 1 year.
P.S.
Step 4
Pale honey is runny, while dark honey is thick and opaque, but apart from this there is no real difference between the two types–it’s just down to the feeding ground for the bees. Borage honey, a speciality of east Yorkshire, is one of the clearest honeys you will ever come across, whereas clover honey is favored for its creamy, thick texture and floral flavor. All honey, with the exception of heather honey, will eventually become cloudy as a result of the natural process of crystallization. If you find this happens and you want your honey to be runny again, then just stand the jar in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes until it is liquid honey again.
