The buzz about bees in Honey Week

"Next in the season is summer honey, made from flowering sycamore trees, hawthorn, clover, rosebay willow herb and water balsam. This is delicately flavoured runny honey is ideal for cooking – baking cakes, dribbling over pancakes, making salad dressings and smoothies," add Liz.

"Autumn honey is our final honey of the year and is made from heather nectar. The bees have to be quick though as heather is only in flower for a couple of weeks in August. It has a distinctive heather flavour, a thick, bubbly texture and is pale gold," Liz explains.

Mike Joyce, Liz's husband looks after the bees and moves the hives on to the moors in early August to make sure the bees feed exclusively on heather.

As I taste my way round the different honeys in Liz and Mike's honey room – a converted garage at the back of their house – I can detect differences between the spring and summer honey but I can't identify a particular floral scent.

"This is because they are polyfloral honeys," explains Liz. "Heather honey, on the other hand, is monofloral and imparts its own heady scent to the honey."

So how should honey be used in cooking? Honey is sweeter than sugar and can be used as a substitute. For sweetening drinks and puddings, use slightly less honey than you would sugar. For baking, substitute half the sugar in a recipe with honey.

Honey cake with coriander, cinnamon and lemon

This cake is very simple to make as it uses the all-in-one method. I have added an exotic blend of spices which marry beautifully with honey to create a fragrant cake. Coriander, like cardamom, cinnamon and ginger can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes.

175g self-raising flour

1 rounded tsp baking powder

2 tsp coriander seeds, finely ground

1 tsp cinnamon

Grated zest of one lemon

1 tbsp pine nuts or flaked almonds

175g unsalted butter at room temperature and cut into small pieces

90g caster sugar

90g runny honey

3 eggs

For the icing

8 tbsp icing sugar

Juice of a lemon

1 tbsp pine nuts or flaked almonds, toasted

Set the oven at 170C/Gas 3. Lightly butter a loaf tin measuring 9cm by 20cm across the base. Sift the flour, spices and baking powder into a large bowl.

Add the lemon zest, pine nuts, butter, sugar, honey and eggs. Mix together either with an electric hand mixer or in a food mixer until the mixture is smooth and "drops off" a spoon.

Place the mixture in the loaf tin and cook for 50 minutes. Check after 30 minutes and if the top is browning too much cover with some foil.

The cake is cooked when you can press a finger in its centre and the surface of

the cake springs back into shape.

Make the icing by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl and adding enough lemon juice to form a runny paste. Dribble the icing over the cooled cake. Toast a few pine nuts or almonds and scatter over the sticky icing.

Yorkshire honey with cheese and oatcakes

I have paired Allerdale goat's cheese, made at the Thorby Moor Dairy, in Cumbria, with Liz and Mike's summer honey for this dish. Fresh oatcakes are something really special. They are crumbly and have have a nutty aroma.

200g fine oatmeal

50g grape nuts

tsp salt

tsp baking powder

20g unsalted butter

80-100ml water

Additional oatmeal for rolling

Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4

Combine the oatmeal, grape nuts, salt and baking powder in a bowl and then rub in the butter. Add enough water to form a soft ball.

Sprinkle a work surface with a little oatmeal and press the soft ball with your hand to flatten it slightly. Dust some more oatmeal over the top and roll out until it is about 5mm thick. Slice the cheese and place on the oatcake. Dribble a little honey over and enjoy.

Cut out circles using a 6cm cutter (or larger if you like) and place on a lightly buttered baking tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the oatcakes are tinged a little brown around the edges. Transfer to a cooking rack.

Breakfast pancakes with Yorkshire Black home-cured bacon and runny honey

These pancakes are foolproof and very quick to make. Each pancake provides a wonderful base for crisp bacon dribbled with honey. For a sweet version, just add a few blueberries or chopped strawberries to the pancake batter.

Serves 2-4

3 large eggs

115g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

140ml milk

4 rashers of Yorkshire Black or any other dry cured bacon grilled until crisp

Runny honey

Dijon mustard

Separate the eggs from the yolks and place each in a large bowl. Stir the flour and baking powder into the egg yolks until you have a smooth paste.

Gradually beat in the milk to create a smooth, thick batter. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gradually fold into the

batter.

To cook: heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Add a tablespoon of batter mixture and cook for a couple of minutes on one side and when golden brown flip over and cook the other side. When ready place on plates.

Meanwhile, grill bacon until crisp. Place bacon on pancakes and dribble with honey and serve with a dollop of mustard on the side.

For more information on where to buy the best quality Yorkshire honey, www.denholmegate

honey.co.uk

Yorkshire Black bacon is home-cured in a molasses by David Lishman, www.lishmansofilkley.co.uk

Honey Week runs from May 3-10. For more information about honey, www.honeyassociation.com