Honey or Treacle?

[Ellyn]

Of course, you could have both. In your cupboard, I mean, not together...that would be too much even for a sweet tooth like me. Sometimes, though, the foodstuff you can have them with can overlap. So...what do you prefer?

Does treacle spoil or ferment eventually? Because honey, while it can ferment into mead, is used as a preservative.

Want to avoid botulism? The thought of eating bee spittle off-putting? Treacle comes from sugar cane and sugar beet, and is often more affordable because there is less processing being done to treacle on its way to refined syrups.

A lot of honey on the shelves in grocery stores aren't real honey, but syrup re-labeled as honey. When you get the real thing, though, it can be nutritious and even anti-bacterial!

What about cooking? Which holds up better in the heat? Meats and pastries alike can be honey-glazed. Doesn't treacle tend to burn?

In the end, I suppose that it can all come down to flavor. I like this particular alternative: maple syrup!

 

[Food4thought]

I too like maple syrup. If I have to use sugar in cooking or baking I prefer to use healthier types such as muscovado which is an unrefined cane sugar . It retains the natural minerals in sugar cane that are lost in the refining process of white sugar.

Treacle is just processed sugar and I prefer to use pure honey. It is more nutritious and has health benefits.

 

[Ellyn]

Minor correction: treacle (or blackstrap molasses, right?) is unprocessed sugar, so unlike refined sugars and lighter syrup, it would also like muscovado sugar retain the minerals from the cane or beets that it came from. Iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, selenium, and even vitamin B6.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Hi @Ellyn
In the UK blackstrap molasses and treacle are not the same product. (My preference is blackstrap molasses which is very high in potassium, something I have difficulty controlling in my body due to a medication condition (usually too low, never high) so I consume 1tbsp blackstrap molasses each day!) I also prefer treacle or blackstrap molasses over honey, but then I happily eat/suck on (small) chunks of muscavado sugar as well

Blackstrap molasses: The syrup remaining after the third extraction of sugar from sugar cane. Blackstrap (derived in part from the Dutch stroop, meaning syrup) refers to the color of the molasses, which is extremely dark. It has a very strong, somewhat bittersweet flavor with a heady aroma. This variety is best used in recipes rather than as a straight sweetener such as pancake syrup. It contains many of the nutrients left behind by refined sugar crystals. By measure, it is 55% sucrose, the least sweet of the varieties.

Treacle: True treacle dates from Victorian times (my insert - probably what I know as golden syrup nowadays). A pale, refined molasses, it is notably sweeter and has a much more mellow flavor than molasses. Nowadays, treacle is a blend of molasses and refinery syrup. It ranges in color from light gold to nearly black. British treacle can be substituted for molasses in most recipes, but much less frequently will molasses work as a replacement for treacle. If you do substitute molasses for treacle, use the lightest, unsulphured molasses you can find.

 

[Ellyn]

Aaand the correction of facts turned out to be mine. Thanks muchly, I love to learn something new every day, and this forum brings it frequently!