As Jewish New Year approaches, I have been busy as a bee over the last few days sampling several delicious kinds of honey made by John Russell's Honey Company. "To Bee or not to Bee," that is the question I've been asking myself as I have been sampling this tasty Manitoba honey.
When my son came home he found four jars of John Russell's honey on our kitchen counter: Clover Honey, Buckwheat Honey, Creamed Honey with Strawberry and Creamed Honey with Saskatoon.
I turned to him and said in the words of King Solomon (Proverbs: 24:13), " My son, eat thou honey, for it is good."
He agreed to sample the honey with me. Before beginning our sampling , I explained that the John Russell's honey is derived from the honeybees in the little Manitoban town of Petersfield, who drop by drop collect nectar from the local flora and clover. John Russell is devoted to the art and craft of beekeeping and his Honey Company doesn't use any additives, colors, preservatives or flavorents. John Russell believes in hand processing, not automated machinery and he chooses to place his hives in places that will produce better tasting honey. He also does not pasteurize honey which he says is " an insult to nature, and the bees that produce it." Russell believes in slow drip, and cold filtering, and taking one’s time to get it right.
"O.K. Honey, are you ready to taste the Honey," I said to my son.
We decided that since I was the " Queen Bee"of the household I would go first.
We opened the jar of pure Clover Honey , the "house honey"made primarily from clover blossoms, with slight accents of alfalfa and wetland flowers. This unique and superior tasting honey was a real treat. Any apple would taste good with this honey.
In addition to the Clover Honey,there are other natural honey's that John Russell's Honey company produces, such as Sunflower Honey (made from the staple seed crop in Manitoba) and Wildflower Honey (made from a plethora of wetlands in the Interlake district).
The next bee I had in my bonnet was that I wanted to taste the Buckwheat Honey,which is a favourite in Slavic and Eastern European cultures and a much loved staple in Jewish culinary recipes. Note that you can make Buckwheat honey cake for Rosh Hashana (at the bottom of this article we have a recipe for it ). The dark buckwheat honey we tasted was thick and strong tasting, and would be a great choice for a honey cake. As an aside, Buckwheat honey the highest level of antioxidants save for New Zealand's Manuka honey.).
We then sampled the Creamed Honey mixed with fresh Saskatoons, which my son really liked, and it was his first time tasting a Saskatoon berry, which can best be described as a cross between blueberries and apples. ( Saskatoons are also referred to as service berries, June berries, Shad berries or Indian Pear. ) This Creamed Honey with Saskatoons will be absolutely perfect for spreading on toast or a scone,and also goes well in tea.
Finally we sampled the Creamed Honey with Strawberries, made from fine fresh strawberries grown in Manitoba. This too would be delicious on its own, on toast, or on anything else . Now, for anyone wanting to know as to exactly how much Creamed Honey with Strawberries I did in fact sample, my answer is simple:
"It's none of your bees -wax!'
John Russell Honey Company has a large variety of other flavoured honeys such as Creamed Honey with blueberries, Creamed Honey with Chocolate Bananas (It's a good thing I didn't try this one as I would have not been able to restrain myself from eating too much of it!), Creamed Honey with Cinnamon, Creamed Honey with Cranberries, Creamed Honey with Oranges, Creamed Honey with Peaches and Creamed Honey with Raspberries.
All products are packaged in 375g (256mL) hexagonal glass jars with floral print lids, 12 jars to a case.All the honey has a base price of $5.85 per unit. ($70.20 per case.)Local pick up discounts available, (you can call for details (204-612-2337).There is no tax on honey (Isn't that a sweet deal !).Some Flavors available in 1 Kilogram fancy Sealers:$12.99 per unit Local pick up/deliver only.
Recipe for Buckwheat Honey Cake with Honey Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup butter, browned
- 1 cup buckwheat honey
- 2½ cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3 eggs
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- Start by browning 1 cup of butter. Choose a non-stick frying pan and melt the butter over medium heat. Make sure it's melting evenly, heat the butter until it has started to turn brown. Set aside.
- Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Pour browned butter into bowl of your stand mixer.
- Mix in the buckwheat honey.
- Mix in the milk
- Mix in the flour mixture.
- Add the eggs, one at a time.
- Pour batter into two 9 inch cake pans. You can use one, but I did two to make it easy to put butter cream in between the two cakes later without having to cut the cake in half.
- Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean. 15 to 20 minutes.
- Let cool before frosting
- Cream the honey and butter together for about 2 minutes.
- Then beat in the powdered sugar. Add milk if frosting is too thick, add more powdered sugar if too thin.
- Spread about half of the butter cream on top of one cake.
- Then add the other on top and spread frosting on that
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