New Britain herald., 1915-04-15
HONEY AND ITS USES,
 DOMESTIC QUESTION
Cakes Made With Honey Keep Longer
 Than if Made WAh Sugar.

ious ways in which the housewife can
 use honey to advantage are suggested
 in a new publication of the United
 States Department of Agriculture
 Farmers bulletin 653, Honey And
 It's Uses in The Home." In this coun-
 try honey has hitherto not been In as
 common use as in Europe, especially
 in cookery It is, however, compar-
 atively simple matter to substitute 1t
 in many recipes for common sugar or
 for molasses, and when this is done
 the resulting flavor is often both novel
 and agreeable.
 One of the great advantages in the
 use of honey is that cakes made with
 1t will keep much longer than those
 made with sugar. honey cake made
 with butter, for instance, will keep its
 quality until the butter grows rancid,
 and one made without butter will
 keep fresh for months. For this req
 son honey is especially useful in re-
 cipes that call for no butter. Icing
 made with honey has the same ad
 vantage and some icing made in the
 experimental laboratory of the De-
 partment of Agriculture was found at the end of ten months 10 be as soft and in as good condition as when it was first made.
 Should Be Served Like Jam.
 Tho experiments conducted, by the department indicate that many of the instructions in the old cookbooks. for the preparation of honey are unnec- essarily elaborate. For example, it used to be thought that honey had to be brought to the boiling point and then skinned and cooled. Since honey is extremely likely to boil over this process requires great care. EX- periments showed, however, that 1t appears to be quite unnecessary, and it is probable that the notion arose at l time when ordinary commercial honey contained more impurities than | at present. Similarly, the older re- cipes say that the dough should be l kept at least one day before the soda Y, is added. No evidence to support this ] theory was found by the investiga- ! tors. On the other hand, however, 1 they did discover that dough contain ing honey can be more easily kneaded | if allowed to stand for several days. Again, the use of potash" is recom mended in most of the recipes in for eign cookbooks as means of ra ising 1 the dough. The properties of potash 1 are quite similar to ordinary baking soda, and there seems no reason why the latter should not do just as we'll. Baking soda is common kitchen commodity in America, and potassium bicar rbonate--the potash of the cook cry book is almost unknown for household purposes. As a matter of fact, a little experience will enable any competent cook to substitute honey successfully for sugar in bread, cake, preserved fruits, sauces, and candies It is safe to estimate that will sweeten 8 dish about as much as a cupful of sugar, but since honey contains water in addition, there is less need for milk or other liquids. For pra ctical purposes it is accurate enough to consider that for each cup full of honey quarter of a cupful is added to the recipe If these facts are kept in mind special honey recipes are unnecessary.
 Honey is marketed in two forms known respectively as comb honey and extracted honey, the former being used much like jam or marmalade and the latter either in that way for for cooking. In the past there has been some prejudice against extracted honey-or honey removed from the it was believed that this was frequently adulterated. How ever prevalent this practice may have been in the past, recent legislation and -he efforts of honey producers them selves have made it dangerous and There is now, it is be- lieved, little adulterated extracted honey on the market. Comb honey Is practically certain to be the pure product of the hive, because it can only be adultered by processes which cost more than they save. When sold at retail there is now compar- atively little difference in the cost of comb and extracted honey, but the the latter can be purchased at whole sale very much cheaper. The req son for this is that the producer of comb honey makes a product which Is practically ready to. be delivered Lo the consumer. Moreover, it costs he bee-keeper less to produce eX- tracted honey while the wholesaler