The 10 best honey recipes

Whether drizzled over dainty cakes, putting a buzz in your breakfast or giving a gorgeous glaze to meat, a spoonful of this sweet nectar can turn your meals into masterpieces

• The Guardian, Saturday 9 February 2013

Ricotta, honeycomb and hazelnut with rhubarb compote. Photograph: Yuki Sugiura for the Guardian

Ricotta, honeycomb and hazelnut with rhubarb compote

Honey with the comb is honey pretty much as the bees intended. The idea is to eat the whole thing, comb and all. The comb has a chewy, waxy texture and is perfectly edible, but you can discreetly discard it once you've sucked all the honey from it, if you prefer.

Serves 4

100g skin-on hazelnuts
250g ricotta
200g honeycomb

For the compote
500g rhubarb, cut into 5cm pieces
50g caster sugar

1 Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/gas mark 3. While it's still a little wet from being washed, add the rhubarb to an ovenproof dish and toss with the sugar. Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes, until tender. Leave to cool completely.

2 Turn the oven up to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for around 5 minutes, until they are lightly golden and the skins are starting to split.

3 Tip the nuts on to a clean tea towel. Fold the towel over them and rub vigorously. This will remove most of the skins, but don't worry if a few stubborn bits remain.

4 Divide the ricotta between shallow serving bowls. Add a spoonful of rhubarb compote to each. Break or cut your honeycomb into 4 roughly equal pieces and place on the ricotta and rhubarb, trickling over any honey that has escaped. Scatter over the hazelnuts and serve.

• Recipe supplied by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Orange madeleines with honey-butter glaze

Photograph: Yuki Sugiura for the Guardian

A tiny amount of baking powder in this batter, though not strictly traditional, ensures these delicate madeleines develop the characteristic hump as they rise. If you don't have the specific moulds, use a well-buttered and floured cupcake tray and fill it very sparingly.

Makes 18

80g unsalted butter, melted
115g plain flour
2 large eggs
60g golden caster sugar
20g runny honey 
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated 
A pinch of salt
½ tsp baking powder

For the honey glaze
60g unsalted butter
A small pinch of salt
4 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp orange juice
100g icing sugar

1 Brush the madeleine moulds sparingly with melted butter and lightly dust with flour, tapping and shaking off the excess. Put the tray in the freezer while you make the batter.

2 Whisk the eggs, sugar, honey, zest and salt together for around 5 minutes until pale and thick. Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture and fold in using a large metal spoon. Drizzle the butter around the edge of the bowl. Gently fold everything together, being careful not to knock the air out. Chill the mixture for at least 2 hours or overnight.

3 Preheat the oven to 210C/425F/gas mark 7.

4 To make the glaze, melt the butter in a small pan and beat in the salt, honey, orange juice and icing sugar until thick and smooth.

5 Drop spoonfuls of batter into the moulds to fill the indents by about three-quarters, but don't spread the batter out or you will disrupt the air bubbles. Bake for 7-9 minutes, until they are golden at the edges and the centres have risen right up. Cool on wire racks for 5-10 minutes then drizzle generously with the glaze. Return them to the wire racks to set, the glazed side upwards. They are best served the same day, although the unglazed madeleines will keep in an airtight container for a few days. They also freeze well.

• Recipe supplied by alicehartfood.com

Pain perdu with roasted apples

Pain perdu is one of those desserts that can be thrown together at a moment's notice. Here it's served topped with honey-roasted apples, but you can use almost any fruit in season. If you happen to have any leftover brioche, use this in place of bread for a luxury version. Pain perdu is always best served as soon as it's assembled, before the bread has time to go soggy.

Serves 4

4 large eggs
275ml milk (or half milk, half cream)
2 tbsp caster sugar
4 tbsp runny honey
Zest of ½ orange, finely grated 
1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped and reserved
½ tsp ground cinnamon
4 slices white bread
1 tbsp vegetable oil
20g unsalted butter
Icing sugar, for dusting
Handful of toasted almonds (optional)

For the apples
40ml runny honey
20g unsalted butter
Juice of ½ orange
Pinch of ground cinnamon
8 granny smith apples

1 Make the roasted apples first. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Put the honey, butter, orange juice and cinnamon into a small saucepan and heat gently until combined.

2 Place the apples on a baking tray and spoon the honey and orange mixture over them. Roast, basting frequently with the juices for 10-15 minutes, until tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apples to a dish.

3 Pour the honey and orange sauce from the tray into a small saucepan and reduce over a low heat until thickened slightly. Core and quarter the apples, then spoon over the sauce.

4 Lower the oven to 120C/250F/gas mark ½. Next make the pain perdu. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, 1 tbsp of the honey, the zest, vanilla seeds and cinnamon. Pour the mixture into a deep plate or a shallow dish.

5 In batches as necessary, lay the bread slices into the egg mixture and leave to soak for 2-3 minutes, turning once. Meanwhile, in a non-stick frying pan, heat the oil and butter until hot. Add the soaked bread slices and fry for around 2-3 minutes, turning once, until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate or baking tray and keep warm in the oven while you fry the rest.

6 To serve, dust the pain perdu with icing sugar. Place on warm plates and top with the roasted apples and sauce. Drizzle with the remaining honey and scatter over a few toasted almonds if you like. Serve at once.

Kitchin Suppers by Tom Kitchin (Quadrille). Order a copy for £16 with free UK p&p (save £4) from guardianbookshop.co.uk or call 0330 333 6846.

Honey granola

Granola is like a slightly sweetened roasted muesli, which gives it a lot more crunch and chew, as well as some baked nuttiness. It's the honey that really brings this together: as well as being a preferable form of sweetener, it binds the ingredients to make fun clusters. Try blossom or heather honey for a proper taste of the British countryside in your breakfast bowl. Once you've made your own granola there's no going back to shop-bought.

Makes around 1kg

150g honey
60ml sunflower or groundnut oil
250g rolled oats
100g bran
150g sunflower seeds
100g hazelnuts
150g dates
100g dried apricots
100g wheatgerm
100g sultanas

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.

2 Pour the honey and oil into a pan and heat gently until the honey has melted.

3 In a bowl, mix the oats, bran and sunflower seeds, then pour on the liquid from the pan and mix well. Spread out on a big baking tray.

4 Roast for 20-25 minutes, turning everything three or four times, then leave to cool.

5 Meanwhile, roast the hazelnuts until they turn a golden brown (which takes about 10 minutes), then roughly chop, along with the dates and apricots.

6 When cool, mix everything together with the wheatgerm and sultanas. Store in an air‑tight container; lasts for about a month.

• Leon: Ingredients and Recipes by Allegra McEvedy (Conran Octopus).Order a copy for £13 with free UK p&p (save £7) from guardianbookshop.co.uk or call 0330 333 6846.

Honey cake with citrus passion fruit syrup

This cake is as light as a cloud. Eat it straight from the oven with the warm citrus syrup, or cold and split into two, filled with Greek yoghurt or whipped cream and passion fruit.

For the honey cake
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
150ml milk
5 eggs
7 tbsp clear honey
½ tsp baking powder
125g semolina
125g ground almonds
Pinch of salt
Butter, for greasing

For the citrus syrup
2 passion fruit
100g unrefined golden sugar
250ml water
Juice of 1 lemon
Greek yoghurt, to serve

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Lightly butter a 20cm diameter by 10cm deep round cake tin. Grate the zest of the lemon and squeeze out its juice. Add the juice to the milk. Separate the eggs and sift the baking powder into a bowl with the semolina and almonds.

2 Whisk the egg yolks with the lemon zest and honey until light and fluffy. Carefully clean and dry the utensil, then whisk the whites with a pinch of salt until they form soft peaks.

3 Stir the baking powder, semolina and almonds into the yolk mixture. When the stirring starts to get difficult, add the milk and blend until smooth.

4 Add a big spoonful of the whisked egg whites to the yolk mixture to loosen it up a little. Gently fold in the remaining whites, trying to keep as much of the air in them as possible. Pour this mixture into the cake tin and bake for 40 minutes or until firm.

5 While the cake is in the oven, make the syrup. Halve the passion fruit and scoop out the pulp. Dissolve the sugar in the water over a medium heat, then turn the heat up and simmer rapidly for a few minutes until the liquid becomes syrupy. Add the lemon juice and passion fruit pulp and leave to cool until the cake is ready.

6 Once the cake is ready, pierce a few holes in the top with a cocktail stick, then pour the syrup over it. Let it sit for 10 minutes while the syrup soaks in.

7 Take the cake out of the tin and slice while it's still warm. Serve with Greek yoghurt.

• The Kitchen Revolution: A Year of Time–and Money–Saving Recipes by Rosie Sykes, Polly Russell and Zoe Heron (Ebury Press). Order a copy for £19.99 with free UK p&p (save £7.51) from guardianbookshop.co.uk or call 0330 333 6846.

Honey and star anise panna cotta

Honey works superbly as a base flavour for a creamy and luxurious panna cotta. It's a natural sweetener, so no additional sugar is needed. Use the best honey you can get.

Makes 4

125ml whole milk
375ml double cream
1 vanilla pod
2 x 2g sheets gelatine
2 points of a star anise
70g runny honey

1 Add the milk, 180ml of the double cream and two points of a star anise to a small saucepan. Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the saucepan. Bring the liquids to the boil, then turn off the heat to let the spices infuse for 10 minutes.

2 Leave two sheets of gelatine to soak in a bowl of water for 4 minutes. Reheat the cream for 30 seconds or so, but don't allow it to boil again. Take the gelatine sheets from the bowl and squeeze out any excess water, then add them to the warm cream mix, along with the honey. Stir the mixture until the new additions have completely dissolved.

3 Strain the cream, honey, vanilla and gelatine mix through a sieve. Then allow this to cool for 10-15 minutes until it thickens and clings to the back of a wooden spoon.

4 In a small bowl, whisk the remaining double cream to "ribbon" stage – just before it starts to peak – taking care not to overwhip. Fold the gelatine-thickened cream mix into the whipped cream, then decant into a jug.

5 Pour the mix into dariole moulds or ramekins that hold 150ml of water. Leave a gap of around 5mm at the top of each pot. Chill them for a couple of hours or more. You could make these the morning before a dinner party, or even the night before.

6 Remove the panna cottas from the fridge five minutes before serving, so they become loose enough to slip freely from their moulds. If you are having difficulties, you may need to dip the moulds briefly in hot water to encourage them to loosen. Serve with seasonal fruit.

• Recipe supplied by rocketandsquash.com

Dairy-free honey bread

A sweet, soft, wonderfully moreish tea bread.

Makes 1 small loaf

225g plain flour
115g caster sugar
115g honey
150ml hot water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Zest of 1 lemon

1 Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/gas mark 3. Butter a 450g loaf tin and line it with baking paper.

2 Mix the flour and sugar together in a large bowl.

3 Melt the honey and water in a small pan. Sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda over the water mixture and stir. Pour this over the dry ingredients, add the lemon zest and mix just until incorporated.

4 Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 50–60 minutes.

5 Remove from the tin and brush the top of the warm bread with honey for a nice sticky finish. Cool, then serve thinly sliced.

Leon: Baking & Puddings by Claire Ptak and Henry Dimbleby (Conran Octopus). Order a copy for £13 with free UK p&p (save £7) from guardianbookshop.co.uk or call 0330 333 6846

Spiced loukoumades

These delicious bite-size treats from Greece are similar to doughnuts or churros, but since they are not deep fried, they are much healthier. After being baked they are soaked in a warm honey syrup.

Makes 20 pieces

250g strong white flour
5g salt
7g sachet fast-action yeast
175ml water

For the syrup
250ml water
250g honey
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods, bruised
1 star anise 
A handful of pistachio kernels, to garnish

1 Mix together the flour, salt, yeast and water then knead for at least 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.

2 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.

3 Once the dough has risen, divide it into 20 small balls and place them spaced apart on a baking sheet lined with a sheet of baking paper (you might need two). Cover them with oiled clingfilm and allow the balls to rise for another 40 minutes. Then bake them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until they turn golden brown.

4 Meanwhile, make the syrup by placing the water, honey, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and star anise into a medium saucepan and heating over a high flame. Boil for at least 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to infuse until needed.

5 When baked, drop the dough balls into the spiced syrup. Serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a final sprinkling of pistachio kernels.

• John Whaite Bakes: Recipes for Every Day and Every Mood by John Whaite (Headline)

Rack of lamb with lavender and honey

Photograph: Yuki Sugiura for the Guardian

Pine-like and slightly citrusy lavender, combined with honey and orange zest, really works with this succulent lamb dish. Just don't go using any old flowers you find in your local park or garden centre – they have probably been sprayed, in more ways than one.

Serves 2-3

1 rack of lamb, French trimmed
1½–2 tbsp dried lavender, stripped from the stalks
2 tbsp honey
Zest of 1 orange
2 cloves garlic, crushed with some sea salt
Black pepper

1 Preheat the oven to 210C/425F/gas mark 7. Mix the lavender, honey, orange zest and garlic in a bowl.

2 Season the rack of lamb with pepper, then heat a heavy-based pan until it's very hot (when you can no longer hold your hand over it at a distance of 3cm or so for 3 seconds).

3 Put the lamb in the pan, fat side down, bone-side up and render down the fat for about 10 minutes, then flip it over for 1 minute, just to give it some colour on that side.

4 Remove from the pan and set aside. Let the lamb come back to room temperature and then brush with the lavender mixture.

5 For medium‑rare lamb, roast the meat in the oven for 20 minutes, then allow it to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

• Recipe supplied by helengraves.co.uk

Manchego and fennel salad with chestnut honey and mustard dressing

The honey used in this recipe is made from the pollen of chestnut flowers. It's aromatic and dark with bags of character and a hint of spice. Meat eaters: feel free to add honey‑glazed bacon to this sweet and succulent salad.

Serves 4

2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed and halved, any fronds chopped and reserved
50g rocket leaves 
120g manchego cheese, shaved into ribbons
2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

For the dressing
1 tbsp chestnut honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
Salt and black pepper

For the honey-glazed bacon (optional)
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon
2 tsp honey

1 Start by making the dressing. Whisk the honey, mustard and lemon juice together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Slowly add the oil to make a thick dressing. Finish by whisking in 1 tbsp water to lighten the consistency.

2 Use a mandolin, the slicing blade of a food processor or, more laboriously, a very sharp knife, to slice the trimmed fennel as wafer‑thin as possible.

3 If you are including the honey-glazed bacon, lay the bacon rashers flat in a dry frying pan and place it over a medium heat. Once the bacon begins to turn golden underneath, turn it over and cook for a couple of minutes more. Now drizzle the rashers with honey, turning them often and cooking for a minute or two more, until deeply caramelised and glazed. Remove from the heat and snip into pieces with scissors.

4 Combine the sliced fennel with the rocket and any chopped fennel fronds, then toss with a few spoonfuls of dressing. Gently tumble the manchego through, along with the bacon, if using. Divide between serving plates, scatter with pine nuts and spoon over a little of the remaining dressing. Any extra will keep for a good few days in the fridge.

• Recipe supplied by alicehartfood.com