Cakes, biscuits and pastries don’t always have to rely on sugar for sweetening. But there are a few things to watch out for when switching to honey.
Looking to make your baked goods healthier without sacrificing taste? Most cake batters, biscuits and pastries can also be sweetened with honey instead of sugar.
The jury is still out on honey’s health benefits compared to sugar, but for those who prefer less processed foods, it is a great alternative to sugar. Fans of honey also believe the exposure to pollen helps to reduce the incidence of allergies.
On the other hand, honey is not suited for use in shortcrust pastry, as it can make the pastry to become tough. Here are a few things to remember when sweetening your cakes and muffins with honey.
– Honey has a higher water content than sugar so you should reduce the amount of liquid in the batter by about 20 per cent. That means using less milk when making waffles, for example.
– Honey is sweeter than sugar so you should use a use a third less of it than you would sugar in a recipe.
– Add about half a teaspoon more of baking powder for every 500 grams of flour so that the batter rises sufficiently.
– Honey browns faster than sugar. For this reason, it helps to reduce the baking temperature by about 20 degrees and bake the batter a little longer instead. – dpa
