Caution, long question: I'm particularly interested is hearing
Chromedome-ga's take on this, especially since that esteemed
researcher has already formed the basis for the chemistry underlying
my query in another answer. My question, alas, is more specific, and a
good deal more difficult.
The goal:
Make a honey butter syrup in a home kitchen or restaurant kitchen.
The caveats:
It must remain liquid at room temperature without undue separation.
It must not congeal when added to cold liquids
Tw secondary hopes:
That it remains a stable emulsion requiring only minimum agitation before use.
That it remains reasonably translucent (though this is not urgent, it
was the case as described directly below.
Additional facts:
This is for use as an additive to cold beverages.
It has been said to have been done with some success historically by
folks who chose to keep their technique secret.
What I've tried: Clarifying the butter and carefully separating the
clear part, making a separate honey syrup (basically 4 parts honey to
3 parts water) and combing them while still warm.
What happened: They separated. One jar of this mix I continued to
agitate. The next day it was solid at room temperature, the color of
apple sauce, the consistency of apple butter. Reheating the mixture
again separated the layers of butter and honey again. The addition of
1/2 oz of 151 proof rum also broke up the solid mass. Maybe this is a
key. The other jar I did not agitate. It remained separated and
interestingly, both of the levels
remained liquid. Actually, the butter obviously created two
mini-levels: the clarified clear part and additional milk solids
belowit, and of course the honey syrup below that.
Additional ponderings:
If I continue to scoop out the top white part, (and the clear butter
part?) will be whether or not the lower amber part is sufficiently
buttery, or just the honey syrup. So far, repeatedly scooping out the
recurring white part HAS left the syrup appropriately buttery, but
will it ever end?
Whether this is correctly a syrup or a sauce, I am not sure. Does the
second jar demonstrate that I didn't efficiently-enough remove the
milk solids? Is there some binder I should be using? This is about
stabilizing, but not about thickening. What about not simply removing
the dairy solids from butter (through clarification) but literally
replacing them - as with corn oil. This, might somewhat adversely
affect the flavor slightly (not being quite as buttery) but could aid
in preserving the liquid state. As I said above, alcohol might impede
the congealing. Perhaps I should not add water to the honey, making it
just honey and clarified butter.
Superb kudos to whoever can solve the puzzle! |
