0 Clarks New Honey - Honey monster biscuits

Clarks the Honey and Maple syrup people have just launched a new clear honey and I have been sent a jar to have some fun with. A blend of British honey with some blossom and acacia honey to keep it clear, this is a great honey for the store cupboard, personally I love the  bee on flower design on the label, the honey itself was great in this recipe for monster honey biscuits, monster as they are so huge.

Really tasty with a nice honey flavour these biscuits are sure to be popular with all the family and keep well in an airtight tin (not that they will last that long !). Clarks Honey has a lovely website as well with lots more serving ideas for this lovely versatile honey.

What you need

• 1/4 cup of honey 
• 1 egg - free range, beaten
• 2 1/4 cups of self raising flour - sieved
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 175g butter 
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla paste

What you do 

• Melt the butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan over a low heat, until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth.
• Remove from the heat and add the cinnamon, allow to cool.
• In a large bowl place the other ingredients and mix gently, now add the melted butter mixture and mix well until you have a stiff sticky mixture.
• Using a wet tablespoon scoop out the mixture an form balls. Place these on an oven tray, pressing down with a wet fork, remembering to allow space for the biscuits to spread.
• Bake in an oven at 180c until golden and firm to touch, normally about 12 -15 minutes.
• Allow to cool on the baking trays and store when cool in an airtight tin.

Detail: Clarks New Honey - Honey monster biscuits

0 Rhubarb and maple syrup crumble muffins

Whilst playing with the samples of maple syrup from Clarks I dreamt up a recipe to use that lovely seasonal ingredient of rhubarb in combination with maple syrup, loosely based on a previous muffin recipe with a crumble topping, my I present Rhubarb and maple syrup crumble muffins. Almost healthy as they contain fruit, a natural sweetener and wholemeal flour, I hope you enjoy them.

Mr Lancashire Food (our official photographer) has taken some absolutely stunning photographs of these muffins which really make them look very special. Check out his new pinterest page

Muffin mixture

• 1/4 cup light brown soft sugar
• 1 egg free range
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 5 tbsp melted butter - then cooled
• 3/4 cup plain low fat yoghurt
• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 cup chopped rhubarb
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder & 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Crumble topping

• 1/4 cup plain wholemeal flour
• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 2tbsp maple syrup
• 2tbsp light soft brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 3tbsp butter

You have options on the crumble topping either melt the butter for a more crunchy topping or rub in for a soft sandy crumble topping, the choice is yours.

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C
• Prepare your muffin pan with large muffin cases - 12 cases
• Prepare the crumble mixture in a small bowl and put to one side
• In a seperate bowl mix the dry ingredients and in another bowl mix the wet muffin  ingredients, then combine gently together, do not over mix, lumpy is ok.
• Lastly add the rhubarb and 1/3rd of the crumble mixture to the muffin mixture
• Spoon into the muffin cases and top with the remaining crumble mixture
• Bake for 15 -20 minutes until cooked and golden
• Cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar when cool

I used Clarks maple syrup in this post which was kindly supplied free of charge by Clarks for recipe development purposes. If you would like to win some of Clarks syrups or honey's check out our rafflecopter giveaway.

I am also entering these muffins in the lovely Ren Behan for Simple and in Season Blog event

                                                

Detail: Rhubarb and maple syrup crumble muffins

0 Clarks Maple syrups and Honeys - taste testing !

I love maple syrup, so was pleased when Clarks Maple syrups and honey's sent me some of their lovely products for taste testing and recipe development and what's more you can win some of their lovely products too in an easy to enter rafflecopter competition (please see below).

Clarks are based in Newport in Wales were they blend the finest quality pure and blended maple syrups, honeys and fruit syrups. Their maple syrup is collected in the beautiful province of Quebec in Canada between February and April. Maple syrup is graded according to its light transmission the more it transmits the lower the number. Maple Syrup is now classed as a superfood being a good source of manganese and also rich in antioxidants.

Clarks Pure Canadian Maple Syrup (Medium no 1) - this is traditional maple syrup, light with a good maple taste , mild and sweet and ideal for using drizzled on pancakes, waffles and in cooking.

Clarks Pure Canadian Maple Syrup (Amber no 2) Darker in colour than the above syrup with a stronger more pronounced maple taste which may be a little strong for drizzling purposes for some. Ideal for using in cooking and baking where the  maple flavour is to be combined with other ingredients.

Clarks Original Maple (blended with pure carob fruit syrup) - with a  great maple taste this is ideal for using as a sweetner for porridge or cereals or drizzled on yoghurt and fruit. Ideal for using in when baking  Parsnip, apple and syrup cake.

Clarks Original Vanilla Maple (blended with pure carob fruit syrup),a great syrup with a good vanilla hit , you could use this drizzled over fruit or in coffee or chai as a sweetner.

Clarks Clear blossom honey - blended from blossom to produce a versatile honey which is great on toast and as a general honey for the kitchen cupboard. Its a handy sugar substitute.

Clarks Orange blossom honey - is blended from honey from orange groves across the world, with a slight citrussy note, this versatile honey is delicious in recipes which are enhanced by the orangey flavour. Golden and bright in colour.

Clarks Acacia honey - a mild and delicate honey with a very slight vanilla note, this honey is a delicious substitute in any recipe which calls for honey.

Clarks Lavender Honey - a gorgeous honey with a lovely lavender note, collected from Spanish lavender groves this is a delicious addition to desserts and cake recipes or drizzled over scones and cream.

Our Clarks prize giveaway consists of 2 prizes, a maple syrup selection pack and a honey selection pack  which will be sent to the lucky prize winners addresses by those nice people at Clarks.(Sorry UK only)

How do I enter the Giveaway?

• Simply follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below. 
• To be in with a chance of winning you must complete ALL the required fields. 
• All entries will be checked and verified before a winner is announced.
• You can increase your chances of winning by Tweeting on a daily basis.
• Rafflecopter will pick a random winner.
• The competition runs from 15/05/13 to 31/5/13 .
• If you win, you MUST send me your delivery details before 12pm on 02/06/13, or the prize will be passed to the next person.
• The first prize drawn will be the maple syrup pack
• The second prize drawn will the honey pack
• Please see the Terms and Conditions on the Rafflecopter widget for the rules and more information.

Maple Syrup Prize Pack

Honey Prize pack

a Rafflecopter giveaway


We have our winners - Jen Price @BlueKitchenbake & Pat O'Brien via Facebook

Detail: Clarks Maple syrups and Honeys - taste testing !