Several weeks ago, thanks to the generosity of friend with a bountiful herb garden, I found myself in the possession of a wealth of lemon verbena. A handful went into this batch of skillet jam to lovely effect. With the rest, I made lemon verbena honey. Really, to say that I made is it sort of silly. Truly, it was just an act of assembly.
I plucked the leaves off their stems, rinsed them and used the salad spinner to dry things off. Then it was just a matter of loosely filling the jar with the lemon verbena leaves and pouring the honey over the top.
After that, I tucked the jar away for a couple of weeks to let the flavor infused. That’s it. Seriously, that’s all the work it takes. It’s been sitting for about two weeks now and it’s tasting gently of lemon. The longer it sits, the more intensely flavored it will become. If you have a sunny window, you can place it there and help the flavor develop faster.
So far, I’ve stirred this lovely honey into tea and drizzled it over blue cheese. How would you use it?
tea!
I have a recipe for a Honey baked chicken that calls for mustard, curry, honey, butter and a couple other things… I would def think that this lemon infused honey would totally rock as an accent to my chicken… Might have to try this!
Think it would be similar with lemon balm? I have tons of the stuff.
I’ve got loads of this in the garden. What a great idea to use it!
Thanks once again for the inspiration!
Ooh, now I’m dreaming of thyme honey. I adore these simple infusions, they’re really wonderful ways to bring excitement to simple ingredients.
I’ve got a rosemary plant and have used it to make rosemary infused honey. Delish … a cracker with cream cheese and some rosemary honey…..simple pleasures.
A friend of mine makes stuffed French toast with brie in the middle and drizzles it with dandelion jelly. I’d bet that lemon verbena honey would be just as good.
This looks lovely! Just a heads up that verbena extract is often used in labour teas because it is classified as an herbal abortifacient (induces labour). If you are pregnant only consume at the advice of your midwife or doctor (ie: when you are over due rather than undercooked). Cheers!
Thanks so much for adding that tidbit. I had no idea!
What a wonderful idea–thank you!
It’s almost time to give the lemon verbena a haircut before it goes to the basement for the winter, and I was just about to put out a call for suggestions on using it up… will add this one to the list!
Get a demitasse spoon and dig in!
Although it’s still cheese, try drizzling it over manchego…yum.
I stuffed a bunch of sliced up hot peppers into a jar of honey a while back – the husband thought it was the best ever for putting on cornbread.
I can totally see almost any flavored honey going over cheese.
That is fantastic, i have just finished decanting the last of my honey AND I have a pile of lemon verbana.. This is great thank you. I will make this tomorrow before the coid hits!! c
How do you keep the honey from fermenting from the added moisture of the fresh herbs?
In the past, I haven’t had an issue with it when I’ve infused fresh herbs into honey. Typically I either use it up before it’s an issue, or once the favor is to a happy level, I pull the herbs out. I’ll probably leave mine another week before removing them.
Drizzle on fresh figs and Greek yogurt
You are my hero! First the sun gold cherry tomato saving grace and now use for the massive lemon verbena bush I am obsessing over!
When I cut into slightly under ripe peaches (due to my impatience), I drizzle a little honey over the slices…the tinge of lemon from the verbena would go beautifully with peaches..thanks for the great idea.
A fall salad I like a lot–arugula, roasted sweet potatoes, and halloumi cheese–calls for a lime-honey dressing. This would be perfect! I infused vodka with lemon verbena last year, but I find I don’t drink much vodka.
I just picked all the big stems from my one and only lemon verbena and they are hanging up to dry a little. I was wondering if you could put them in a jar of sugar like you do with vanilla pods and lavender… Do you think that would work? I’m definitely going to try the honey though…. Lovely !
Very interesting! I don’t have lemon verbena, but I do have a side yard overflowing with lemon balm…I wonder what that substitution would create? Clearly this requires an experiment.
Is it fresh or dried lemon Verbena leaves?
I used fresh here.