Nana's Eggless Lemon Honey

  

Our friends recently gave us a bag of lemons from their tree which got me thinking about what I could make with them.  After flicking through a few recipe books for ideas, I came across a recipe for lemon honey.  As I mulled this over, I remembered that my Nana had made lemon honey before, so my first port of call was to text my Mum & ask her if she could email me Nana's recipe. 
  

This recipe only makes a small jar or two, so it's great if you only have a couple of lemons lying around.  You can double the recipe as I have done on occasions if I want to give a few jars away as gifts.  It's a simple recipe to make & has a lovely, smooth consistency & a nice hit of lemony tang!  It's also a great option for people who are allergic to eggs as loads of recipes for lemon honey or lemon curd/butter have eggs in them.

Preparation... 

• Have a couple of clean, hot jars ready.  I cleaned my jars in the dishwasher & then while I was making the lemon honey, I place the jars on an oven tray lined with baking paper in the oven on static 100C.  You need the jars to be hot so they won't crack when you pour the hot lemon honey into them.
• Have some preserve covers at the ready.

Ingredients

2 lemons 

2 ounces of butter (cut into chunks so it melts quicker) 

1 cup white sugar 

1 tablespoon cornflour    
 

What to do...

1. In a medium saucepan, add butter, sugar & the juice & rind of the lemons.  When you are grating the rind, only grate the first layer of yellow & avoid going down deeper into the white pith.  That part doesn't taste very nice.
2. Place saucepan over a medium heat until the butter & sugar have dissolved & continue heating until it boils.  Monitor the heat & stir often though, because you don't want the mixture to burn.  
3. In a separate small bowl, mix the cornflour with a little water to make an icing consistency.

4. Once the lemon mixture has reached boiling point, add in the cornflour mix & whisk quickly to combine. 
5. Reduce heat & simmer gently until the lemon honey has thickened & it coats the back of a spoon, then turn off your stove & remove the saucepan immediately.  
6. Strain the lemon honey into a jug so you get rid of the rind & any lumps of cornflour mixture. 
7. Carefully remove your jars from the oven & pour the lemon honey in.  Leave to stand for a few minutes & then moisten your preserve covers & place snug over the top with a rubber band. 

Keep your lemon honey in the fridge.  It will last for several weeks.

Lemon honey is great on scones or toast but you can also use it in desserts such as lemon meringue pie or you could use it as a filling in vanilla sponges or cakes.