Baking honey
Into a mixture and then into an oven. Delicate aroma does not survive; malt and molasses do.
136 honeys · culinary use
Honeys in this group
- Clover honeyExtra white · MildWarm, mild and rounded — sweet with a faint cinnamon-and-hay note underneath. The taste most English-speaking readers picture when they read the word honey.
- Orange blossom honeyExtra white · ModerateUnmistakably floral and citrus-scented — orange blossom in the glass, with the fruit itself somewhere behind it.
- Lavender honeyExtra light amber · PronouncedOvertly perfumed — lavender flower, warm hay and a soft fruity sweetness underneath. Aromatic in a way most honeys are not.
- Rapeseed honeyWater white · MildVery sweet, very mild, faintly cabbage-like when fresh and cleanly bland once set. Texture is what it has instead of flavour.
- Borage honeyWater white · DelicateVery light and very clean, with a faint cucumber-fresh note that fades with age. Sweetness without commentary.
- Meadowfoam honeyExtra white · ModerateToasted marshmallow and vanilla, unmistakably. The one honey most people identify blind on the first spoonful, because it tastes like something they already know.
- Gallberry honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a soft floral warmth and a faint bitterness on the finish that the name hints at without quite delivering.
- Pōhutukawa honeyWater white · MildMild and creamy with a faint salt-and-mineral edge from the coast, and a butterscotch note that emerges as it warms on the tongue.
- Cherry blossom honeyExtra white · ModerateMarzipan first, then a light stone-fruit sweetness — the almond note is the defining character and it is unmistakable.
- Phacelia honeyWater white · MildMild, clean and gently floral with a faint herbal freshness — an easy honey with no rough edges at all.
- Sweet clover honeyExtra white · MildWarm, sweet and hay-like with a soft vanilla note that is genuinely there rather than imagined — the clearest coumarin character of any common honey.
- Milk vetch honeyWater white · MildSoft, mild and slightly floral with a faint green-bean freshness — an unassuming honey made in enormous quantity.
- Marri honeyExtra light amber · MildMild, sweet and buttery with a soft caramel warmth and only the faintest eucalypt lift.
- Ironbark honeyExtra light amber · ModerateRich, buttery and dense with a warm caramel depth and a clean eucalypt lift at the end.
- Rātā honeyWater white · DelicateVery delicate and creamy with a light butterscotch note and a faint mineral saltiness underneath.
- Almond blossom honeyLight amber · PronouncedDistinctly bitter with a marzipan aroma over it — one of the few honeys where bitterness arrives before sweetness, and an acquired taste even among people who like bitter honeys.
- Purple loosestrife honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong and tangy with a distinct green herbal note over dark caramel — an unusual profile that some tasters find sharp and others find refreshing.
- Ceanothus honeyWater white · MildDelicate and clean with a light floral sweetness and a faint spicy edge — mild, and rather more interesting than a pale honey usually is.
- Chinese tallow honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a light floral sweetness and a faint waxy note — an unremarkable flavour attached to a very remarkable ecological situation.
- Tajonal honeyExtra light amber · MildBright and clean with a light floral sweetness and a faint herbal edge — an approachable honey and the backbone of Mexico's export trade.
- Campanilla honeyExtra light amber · MildLight and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint tropical fruit note — approachable and pleasant rather than distinctive.
- Logwood honeyExtra light amber · MildLight and clean with a distinct floral sweetness and a faint caramelised note — one of the more delicate Caribbean honeys.
- Marmeleiro honeyExtra light amber · MildLight and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint resinous edge from the scrub — approachable and characteristic of caatinga honey generally.
- Snowberry honeyExtra white · MildMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint green note — pleasant and unassertive.
- Persimmon honeyAmber · PronouncedRich and fruity with a dried-date depth and a warm caramel base — one of the more distinctive minor American varietals and genuinely reminiscent of the ripe fruit.
- Red maple honeyExtra light amber · ModerateWarm and lightly caramelised with a faint woody note — a straightforward honey, and one that surprises people expecting it to taste of maple syrup.
- Messmate honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong and resinous with a malty depth and a faintly medicinal eucalypt lift — assertive and unmistakably Australian.
- Blackbutt honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and caramelised with a light resinous edge — one of the milder eucalypt honeys and a good introduction to the group.
- Grey box honeyExtra light amber · ModerateClean and lightly caramelised with a faint buttery quality — mild for a eucalypt honey and highly regarded for its density and smoothness.
- Yapunyah honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and buttery with a light caramel sweetness and a clean finish — smooth in a way that people notice before they notice the flavour.
- Coolibah honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a light caramel note and a soft buttery finish — undemanding and pleasant.
- Mallee honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a light caramel sweetness and a faint eucalypt lift — approachable and consistent.
- Bloodwood honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong and malty with a resinous depth and a distinct woody astringency — one of the more assertive Australian honeys.
- Spotted gum honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and caramelised with a light resinous lift and a rounded finish — a middle-weight eucalypt honey and a very usable one.
- White box honeyExtra light amber · MildClean and lightly caramelised with a faint buttery smoothness — mild, dense and highly regarded within Australia.
- Brush box honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint resinous edge — approachable and undemanding.
- Prickly box honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint honeyed-almond note — pleasant and considerably gentler than leatherwood.
- Koromiko honeyExtra light amber · MildLight and clean with a faint herbal bitterness and a soft floral base — mild with just enough edge to be interesting.
- Tree lucerne honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint nutty note — pleasant, undemanding and mostly eaten by bees rather than people.
- Salvation Jane honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness — pleasant, unassertive and produced in enormous quantity.
- Bottlebrush honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong and malty with a resinous depth and a faint medicinal lift — assertive, and a surprise to anyone who expects a garden shrub to make a mild honey.
- Western Australian wildflower honeyExtra light amber · ModerateComplex and variable, generally warm and lightly caramelised with a resinous myrtaceous lift and considerable site-to-site difference.
- New Zealand bush honeyExtra light amber · ModerateWarm and rounded with a light caramel base and a faint resinous lift, and considerable variation between regions — generally more approachable than any of its monofloral components.
- Sunflower honeyExtra light amber · ModerateStraw, beeswax and pollen, with a slightly waxy mouthfeel and a fresh, faintly herbal edge.
- Wildflower honeyExtra white · ModerateVaries with the season and the landscape. Pale spring crops are floral and light; late-summer crops darker, fruitier and stronger.
- Alfalfa honeyExtra white · MildMild, clean and slightly grassy, with a beeswax note and very little else. A background honey, and good at being one.
- Blueberry honeyExtra light amber · ModerateTangy and lightly fruity with a green, slightly astringent edge — recognisably related to the berry without tasting of jam.
- Dandelion honeyLight amber · PronouncedSharp, pungent and unmistakably strong for a spring honey — a chamomile-and-hay aroma with an animal note behind it that fades as the honey ages.
- Kānuka honeyExtra light amber · ModerateSweet, clean and lightly aromatic, with a herbal-resinous thread that hints at its relation to mānuka without any of the medicinal weight.
- Blackberry honeyExtra light amber · ModerateWarm, mellow and gently fruity, with a soft jammy note and a hint of the fruit without any of its sharpness.
- Mountain honeyLight amber · PronouncedAromatic, complex and warm, with a herbal-resinous depth and considerably more going on than a lowland multifloral. It tastes of a landscape rather than of a flower.
- Meadow honeyExtra light amber · ModerateSoft, warm and floral with a hay-and-clover base — recognisably a summer field, and gentler and less resinous than mountain honey.
- Goldenrod honeyLight amber · PronouncedStrong, warm and spicy, with a hay-and-clove character and a slightly astringent finish. Assertive in a way that surprises people expecting an ordinary golden honey.
- Saw palmetto honeyLight amber · PronouncedSmoky and peppery with a warm resinous depth — an unusual and slightly savoury honey that divides opinion sharply.
- Mesquite honeyExtra white · MildMild and smooth with a faint smoky-molasses note that arrives after the sweetness rather than with it.
- Yellow box honeyExtra white · MildMild, smooth and lightly floral with a buttery weight and a faint eucalypt lift at the very end.
- Rewarewa honeyAmber · PronouncedMalty and burnt-caramel with a dry astringent finish — closer to a dark ale than to a floral honey.
- Macadamia honeyAmber · PronouncedMalty and nutty with a roasted depth and a butterscotch base — one of the few honeys that genuinely tastes like the crop it came from.
- Mustard honeyExtra white · MildVery sweet and very mild with a faint pungent brassica note when fresh, fading to clean blandness as it ages and sets.
- Blue borage honeyExtra white · MildClean, delicate and softly floral, with a thick smooth body that gives it more weight than its flavour would suggest.
- Cotton honeyExtra white · MildMild and clean with a faint green-vegetal note and very little else — a background honey.
- Hawthorn honeyLight amber · PronouncedStrong and slightly strange — marzipan and cut hay over a distinctly animal undertone that divides people sharply.
- Thistle honeyExtra light amber · ModerateWarm and herbaceous with a hay-and-spice character and a faint bitterness at the end.
- Karri honeyAmber · PronouncedRich and layered — malt and dark caramel with a dried-fruit depth and a long warm finish. The most complex of the Western Australian honeys.
- River red gum honeyLight amber · PronouncedStrong and warmly medicinal — the classic eucalypt register, with caramel underneath and a menthol lift at the end.
- Blue gum honeyLight amber · PronouncedStrongly medicinal and camphoraceous with a caramel base — the flavour most people mean when they say a honey tastes of eucalyptus.
- Kāmahi honeyExtra light amber · ModerateButtery and caramel-sweet with a faint herbal-resinous edge and a smooth rounded body.
- Rubber tree honeyLight amber · MildMild and slightly vegetal with a light caramel warmth — an unremarkable flavour attached to a genuinely remarkable production story.
- Aster honeyExtra light amber · ModerateStrong and slightly sharp with a hay-and-herb character and a distinct sour edge that fades as the honey ages.
- Assa-peixe honeyExtra light amber · MildMild, clean and gently floral with a soft caramel warmth and a slightly herbal finish.
- Balsam honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a light pear-drop fruitiness and a soft floral finish — considerably gentler than its late-season timing suggests.
- Bamboo honeyAmber · PronouncedRich and buttery with a distinct tang, frequently compared with a lighter buckwheat — malty and slightly sharp rather than sweetly floral.
- Kiawe honeyWater white · DelicateVery mild, clean and faintly vanilla-like, with a texture that does most of the work — smooth, buttery and dissolving rather than sticky.
- Tawari honeyExtra white · DelicateVery delicate, with a distinctive butterscotch note over a clean light sweetness — mild without being characterless, which is a difficult combination.
- Corsican maquis honeyExtra light amber · PronouncedRanges from delicate and floral in spring to intensely bitter and resinous in the autumn maquis, which is dominated by strawberry tree and is among the most challenging honeys in Europe.
- Metcalfa honeydew honeyAmber · ModerateModerately sweet with a distinct fig and dried-fruit character over a malty base — noticeably fruitier than the conifer honeydews and quite unlike them.
- Titi honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a light floral sweetness and no strong distinguishing character — the honey itself is unremarkable, which is why nothing about it justifies the cost to the colony.
- Tree heath honeyAmber · IntenseStrong, malty and slightly bitter, with a burnt-caramel depth and a woody finish — assertive in a way that divides opinion sharply.
- Rosmaninho honeyLight amber · ModerateAromatic and resinous with a warm herbal sweetness and a faint eucalyptus lift — more robust and less perfumed than Provençal lavender honey.
- Retama honeyExtra white · MildDelicate and floral with a distinct honeyed-almond sweetness and a clean finish — one of the gentler European honeys, and unusually consistent.
- Field bean honeyExtra white · MildMild and clean with a faint green-bean vegetal note under a soft sweetness — pleasant and undemanding rather than distinctive.
- Urban honeyExtra light amber · ModerateVaries enormously and is frequently more complex than a rural multifloral, because the flowering succession is longer and the species mix wider.
- Sycamore honeydew honeyAmber · ModerateMalty and mildly sweet with a savoury, faintly smoky depth and a mineral finish — less resinous than the conifer honeydews and more caramelised.
- Knapweed honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and rounded with a light caramel sweetness and a faint hay note — the flavour most people picture when they think of ordinary good honey, with a little more depth.
- Buckwheat honeyDark amber · IntenseMalt, molasses and wet straw, with a savoury, almost animal depth. The most polarising honey in general production.
- Jarrah honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, malty and caramelised, with a coffee-and-treacle depth and much less of the medicinal edge a comparably dark honey usually carries.
- Avocado honeyDark amber · IntenseDark, buttery and molasses-rich with a savoury, almost salty edge. Nothing about it suggests the fruit.
- Pine honeydew honeyAmber · PronouncedResinous, malty and markedly less sweet than floral honey, with a woody, slightly salty depth and no floral character at all.
- Tulip poplar honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, buttery and malty with a smoky caramel depth and much less bitterness than its colour suggests.
- Silver fir honeyDark amber · PronouncedMalty, resinous and barely sweet, with a balsamic depth and a long woody finish. One of the least sugary honeys there is.
- Spruce honeydew honeyAmber · PronouncedMalty and caramelised with a woody depth and restrained sweetness — warmer and less balsamic than fir honeydew.
- Carob honeyAmber · IntenseDark, malty and distinctly savoury with a fermented, almost cheesy note that people either find fascinating or cannot get past.
- Banksia honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong, malty and savoury with a burnt-caramel depth and a distinctly salty-mineral edge.
- Loquat honeyAmber · PronouncedRich and malty with a distinct almond-marzipan note over dark caramel — one of the more aromatic East Asian honeys and far stronger than its pale-fruited source suggests.
- Tochi honeyAmber · PronouncedMalty and rich with a distinct woody astringency and a long dry finish — assertive without being harsh, and closer to a dark forest honey than to a blossom one.
- Siberian taiga honeyExtra light amber · ModerateComplex and warm with a herbal lift over caramel, and a density that comes directly from the low moisture — thick, concentrated and long on the palate.
- Coriander honeyLight amber · PronouncedWarm and spicy with an unmistakable coriander-seed aroma over a caramel base — one of the most immediately recognisable honeys there is.
- Mahua honeyDark amber · IntenseHeavy and molasses-like with a fermented dried-fruit note and a faintly smoky finish — one of the more challenging Indian honeys and among the most distinctive.
- Karanj honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and herbal with a faint bitterness and a light caramel base — mild by Indian standards and more interesting than its modest reputation suggests.
- Sesame honeyExtra light amber · MildMild and clean with a distinct toasted-nut note and a light caramel base — the nutty character is genuine rather than suggested by the name.
- Miombo honeyAmber · PronouncedRich and warm with a distinct woody, faintly smoky depth and a caramelised sweetness — the smoke comes partly from the harvest method and partly from the woodland itself.
- Shea honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and buttery with a nutty depth and a light caramel base — a rounded, approachable honey with a distinct richness.
- Argan honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and nutty with a distinct roasted note and a light resinous edge — genuinely reminiscent of the oil, which is a rare coincidence between a honey and its tree's other product.
- Berseem honeyExtra white · MildMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint hay note — the archetype of an unassuming everyday honey.
- Cashew honeyAmber · PronouncedTangy and resinous with a warm caramel base and a faintly astringent finish — assertive and quite unlike the mild nut it comes from.
- Willow honeyExtra white · MildMild, faintly green and quick to set. A spring honey in the literal sense, and one most beekeepers taste and few buyers ever see.
- Rowan honeyLight amber · ModerateAmber, tart and faintly bitter, with a red-fruit note that echoes the berries the tree is better known for.
- Field maple honeyExtra light amber · ModerateFresh and faintly green with a warm caramel base — a spring honey with rather more body than its colour suggests.
- Greek erica honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, malty and faintly bitter, with dried fig and caramel behind it. A robust honey and a distinctly autumnal one.
- Holm oak honeydew honeyDark amber · IntenseDark, savoury and barely sweet, with malt, liquorice and a genuine salt-mineral depth. As far from what people expect honey to be as anything in the catalogue.
- Altai honeyExtra light amber · ModerateFloral, warm and complex, with a hay-meadow character and a long clean finish. A very good multifloral rather than a striking monofloral.
- Hedgerow honeyExtra light amber · ModerateWarm, floral and slightly grassy, with a caramel base. A good hedgerow honey is a genuinely complex thing that happens not to have a Latin name.
- Spring blossom honeyExtra white · MildMild, creamy and clean, with a faint cabbagey note where rape dominates. An easy honey and a spreadable one.
- Babul honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm, nutty and full-bodied with a faint tannic dryness. A robust everyday honey rather than a delicate one.
- Oil-tea camellia honeyWater white · ModeratePale, thin and distinctly bitter, with an astringent tea-like finish. Not a beginner's honey and not really a pleasure honey.
- Pagoda tree honeyExtra white · MildLight, clean and gently floral with a faint green edge — an unassertive honey produced in very large quantities.
- Mangium honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, malty and lightly resinous, with a savoury depth that reads as honeydew rather than as blossom.
- Sweet thorn honeyExtra light amber · MildSoft, floral and clean, with a faint almond note carried over from the flower's own scent. An easy honey and a very well-made one at its best.
- Combretum honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and caramel-led with a dried-fruit depth and a faint woody dryness. A robust everyday honey rather than a delicate one.
- Niger seed honeyExtra light amber · MildGolden, clean and gently grassy, with a soft finish. Closer to sunflower honey than to the darker forest honeys of the same country.
- Oil palm honeyLight amber · ModerateVariable by definition. Generally warm and mildly caramel-led, taking its character from whatever grew between and around the palms.
- Soybean honeyWater white · MildVery pale and very mild, with a clean light sweetness and almost nothing to distinguish it. Its virtue is neutrality.
- Spanish needle honeyExtra light amber · MildLight, mildly fruity and clean. An easy, agreeable honey rather than a dramatic one, which is exactly what an all-year background source produces.
- Safflower honeyExtra light amber · MildLight amber and mildly nutty, with a faint thistle bitterness at the finish. Unassertive and rather more interesting than most crop honeys.
- Carrot seed honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, savoury and faintly medicinal, with a green umbellifer note and a slightly bitter finish. A challenging honey and an interesting one.
- Prairie honeyWater white · MildClean, mild and creamy, with a light floral sweetness. The reference point for what a great many people think honey tastes like.
- Tepezcohuite honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and floral with a faint tannic dryness, reflecting the tree's very high tannin content. An agreeable everyday honey.
- Angico honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, resinous and faintly smoky over a caramel body. A robust honey with more character than most tropical crops.
- Caatinga honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm, resinous and floral at once, with real complexity from a flora that exists nowhere else. Variability is inherent rather than a defect.
- Chañar honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and caramel-led with a distinct sweet resinous note — recognisably related to the pod syrup the same tree produces.
- Stringybark honeyLight amber · ModerateFull and malty with a clean eucalypt aromatic edge and a slightly dry finish. A robust everyday honey by Australian standards.
- Yellow gum honeyExtra light amber · MildClean and mildly aromatic with a soft finish — the gentlest of the commercial eucalypt honeys and a good introduction to the group.
- Swamp mahogany honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong, malty and resinous with a lingering bitterness. One of the more challenging Australian honeys and a good one.
- Wilga honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and faintly spicy with a clean finish, and without the camphor edge that runs through the eucalypt honeys of the same landscape.
- Five finger honeyExtra white · MildMild, faintly green and slightly waxy, setting hard and pale. A working honey rather than a prestige one.
- Towai honeyWater white · MildVery pale and delicate with a faint butterscotch sweetness — noticeably lighter and milder than kamahi from the same genus.
Plants behind these honeys
- EucalyptusEucalyptusProlific in both nectar and pollen when flowering, though the pollen of some species is nutritionally poor for honey bees, and colonies confined to a single eucalypt species can suffer over time despite abundant forage.
- White cloverTrifolium repensOne of the very few plants that is both a top-tier nectar source and a substantial pollen source, over a long season, at landscape scale.
- SycamoreAcer pseudoplatanusVery high nectar and good pollen, delivered at tree scale in mid-spring, plus a honeydew contribution later. A single mature sycamore is a serious forage asset.
- Sweet cloverMelilotus officinalisVery high nectar over a long dry-season window, and shallow enough florets that honey bees can work it properly — which alfalfa, growing in the same fields, will not allow.
- Field mapleAcer campestreVery high nectar from a tree most people do not realise is flowering, plus a honeydew contribution later in the season.
- BrambleRubus fruticosusThe combination of a very long season, high nectar value and reliability in variable weather makes bramble the workhorse of northern European summer forage.
- DandelionTaraxacum officinaleThe pollen is what makes it critical. It arrives when colonies are expanding fastest and have the least in reserve, and bumblebee queens emerging from hibernation depend on early sources like this one to found a nest at all.
- Oilseed rapeBrassica napusTop-rated for both nectar and pollen, and delivered at exactly the moment colonies are expanding fastest in spring. Its faults are entirely about what comes after.
Guides covering these honeys
- Why honey crystallisesGranulation is not spoilage, not a sign of adulteration, and not evidence that honey is raw. It is glucose doing what glucose does — and the rate is predictable from the sugar ratio.
- Why honeys taste and look so differentEvery honey is around 80% sugar. Everything that distinguishes one from another lives in the remaining fifth.
- Honey authenticity, adulteration and testingHoney is among the most adulterated foods in world trade. The tests are good, the evasions are better funded, and almost every home test circulating online does not work.
- Raw, filtered and processed honeyWhat actually happens between the hive and the jar, which of it changes the honey, and why the word 'raw' carries less information than it appears to.
- Creamed, set and whipped honeyCreamed honey has nothing added and nothing whipped into it. It is ordinary honey whose crystallisation has been controlled instead of left to chance, and the technique is a hundred years old.
- Why honey comes in different coloursHoney runs from nearly colourless to almost black, and the colour is set mainly by the plant. It correlates loosely with intensity, more strongly with mineral content, and not at all with quality.
Other culinary use groups
Narrow it down further
- Honey finder
Which honey should I buy for what I actually want to do with it?
- Flavour selector
I like this taste — which honeys have it?
- Honey comparison
How do these honeys actually differ, beyond colour?
- Honey substitute calculator
How much honey do I use instead of sugar, and what else has to change?
- Storage guide
How should I store honey, and what do I do when it sets?