BONJOUR MES AMIS: Homemade Honey Lemon Cough Drops

vendredi 12 septembre 2014

Homemade Honey Lemon Cough Drops

It's the flu and cold time of year! When winter rolls around, more and more people around you start sneezing, couching and much worse.

Here is a great recipe for homemade honey lemon cough drops that will soothe your throat and are all-natural too!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of raw, buckwheat honey (or any other dark honey)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root

For dusting:
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Kitchen items:
Candy thermometer
A candy mold with small openings (or oil a piece of parchment paper and pour the candy on it, let it harden and break into small pieces)

Begin by measuring out the honey, lemon juice and grated ginger into a saucepan. With a wire whisk, stir the mixture as it begins to boil at a relatively high heat. It will become foamy and start to climb up the sides of the pan. When it does this, remove it from the heat and continue to whisk until the foam reduces and then put it back over the heat. Repeat this process until the candy thermometer reads 300 degrees.

Then, drop a bit of the hot mixture into a glass of ice water (or quickly dip a spoon into the mixture and dip it back into the ice water). If the mixture forms a hard, crunchy ball, then it's ready. If not, keep whisking and heating and try again in a minute or so.

Let the mixture cool until the foam has reduced and then carefully drizzle the candy into the mold (or onto the oiled parchment paper). Let it cool in a safe place that's not the freezer or fridge until the drops harden. Once they are hard, press on the back of the mold to release them, or begin to break the cough drops into pieces on the tray.

If you'd like to enhance the power of the cough drops, mix the powdered sugar with a bit of vitamin C powder (available at health stores). Drop the cough drops in sugar and coat.

Store the drops in a container in the fridge, because they tend to get sticky when left out.