Making your own lozenges is a great thing! You know what is in them and you can make them for your own ailments. Remember, when cooking, sometimes things flop and sometimes they work out wonderfully. I love herbs and they make me happy. They have helped our family through some difficult times! Here is the basic recipe that I use. It isn't set in stone by any stretch of the imagination, but this is what I do. :)
Use 1 cup of honey or blackstrap molasses or a combination of both. Remember that molasses is VERY strong and so think of who your audience is. Will they take them?
Then you will use up to 1/4 cup of an herb, either cut or powdered. I love ginger and clove with some red raspberry leaf. I use the powdered herbs, but you can use cut herbs. Think about your herbs as well, if you are going to use herbs like cayenne and/or garlic type herbs then I would choose less herb to honey ratio, but that's just me.
Very first, butter some cookie sheets to put the lozenges on. Then to begin your exciting new creations bring your honey to the hard crack stage. On my thermometer it was 150c, it's okay to go slightly higher (makes them less sticky) but after burning mine in the past I am a little more cautious. After your honey is hot, then you can add your powdered herbs. If you use cut, then you will need to leave over the heat for an extra 10 minutes and then strain them out. I have never done this because I am lazy. I also don't mind the extra herb at the end to chew up after the honey dissolves away. My kids like it too, however some people that are more sensitive are less impressed. I intend sometime to try oils, but it's also important to remember that the more whole the herb the better!
Once at temperature and herbs mixed in, then either put them in little dots on the pans or you can pour them out and score them. I have never poured them out, though this might be pretty easy...maybe I will try that next
So, now in short:
Butter your pans.
Heat 1 cup honey to hard crack stage.
Add up to 1/4 cups herbs.
Pour onto buttered pans. Enjoy!
These can be frozen easily and are yummy right out of the freezer, it also helps with the stickiness.
You'll need 2 or 3 sheets. If you drop some one the first sheet and come back a few minutes later and drop more on it, they will come apart when you take them off the tray. Make sure you butter your tray, and to store them, layer them with wax paper between and store in the freezer.
ReplyDeleteI used 1 cup honey.. and added:
ReplyDelete2 TBS cloves
1 tsp RRL powder
1/2 to 1 tsp ginger powder
a small pinch cayenne (35,000 HU)
1/2 tsp people paste
Tastes good!