Spruce honey

Ingredients for 5 servings:

• 1 liter of water, 500 g spruce shoot tips (light green young shoots May-June)
• 2 kg sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 5 hours; Total time approx. 5 hours

Cough honey – preparation May – June

Collect young spruce shoots and place them in a pot. Add water (about 1 liter) so that the spruce needles are just covered. Simmer until the cooking water turns a slightly milky white (about 1/2 to 1 hour; don’t be alarmed, the spruce needles will also turn a slight brown/greenish color, but this is normal). Strain through a flannel cloth (cloth diaper). Pour the cooking water into a very large (!) pot. It’s okay if it looks lost in the pot—then you can let it boil gently without it boiling over. Now add the sugar and let it cook for about 3-5 hours. Check the setting time to see how firm it is. I always use a sugar thermometer—I always let it boil up to 125°C or 100 Reaumur. CAUTION! The whole thing is extremely hot! Let it cool slightly and pour into jars. Done! This is a very good cough honey for colds. Simply take a glass of hot milk and add as much spruce honey as you like. My grandmother used to make it that way.