Crisp, sweet yet at the same time slightly tart with a fantastic aroma and just a hint of a vinegary bite these honey pickled cucumber slices are the perfect way to preserve them for winter time.
The recipe below is from my Mum. She has been preserving cucumbers this way for years now and everyone who tries them always complements her on their taste. They aren’t your standard pickled cucumbers; that sharp vinegary taste is replaced with a sweeter, honey based brine, which puts a totally new spin on your pickled cucumbers… Try it and you will not be disappointed.
The batch below will allow you to make five 0.72l jars (if you pack the cucumbers pretty tight).
Ingredients:
- ~3.5kg cucumbers
- 750ml filtered water
- 250ml 6% vinegar
- 150g white sugar
- 1tbsp salt; heaped
- 5 whole allspice or 1/4tsp if using grounded one
- 5tbsp honey
Additional per jar:
- 1 garlic clove
- 10 mustard seeds
- 3 cloves whole
Method:
Fill a cooking pot with the water, add vinegar, sugar, salt and allspice and bring it to a boil. Make sure everything is dissolved (well all but the allspice that it). Put aside to cool, then add the honey and stir well till dissolved.
Wash your cucumbers and slice them into about 1cm thick slices. Too thin slices will make the final pickled pieces to soft and wobbly 🙂
Now, it’s time to pack the cucumber slices into the clean jars… pack them tightly, the tighter the better.
Once the cucumbers are packed in, add garlic, mustard seeds and cloves, and finally slowly pour the earlier prepared brine into the jars until they are full. Put the lids on and close tightly.
Take a large cooking pot and test to see how many jars you can fit comfortably inside, you may need to do the cook in batches. Remove the jars and add a wet folded kitchen cloth to the bottom of the pan, return the jars to the pot making sure none of the jars touch the bottom and the side of the pot directly. Fill with cold water until the jars are covered to ¾ of the jar height and bring to a boil, once boiling cook for 5 minutes. Do not over boil them… the longer you boil them the softer the final slices will be we are after a pasteurising effect here to kill off any bacteria not to actually cook them.
Whilst they are happily bubbling away, somewhere on the worktop make a temporary resting den for the jars… they will have to stay there for about 24h. Place a thick towel or two on the worktop. When the five minutes of boiling are up, using thick kitchen gloves remove the jars from the boiling water, check the lids are still tight and put to rest on the towels in an upside down position, yep stand them on their lids. Once all the jars are placed on the towel then cover with a few more towels or even a blanket and let them stay like this until the next day.
Move to their long term storage place and enjoy as and when needed.
These look so delicious! I’ve never tried pickling using honey as an additive before but that honestly sounds delicious! I love sweet pickles so using honey instead of sugar could be amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
Is the 5 Tbsps for the allspices and what sugar do you use, white or brown?
Hi Nicola,
no, it’s 5 allspice pieces/seeds - if you have grounded one use 1/4tsp, as to sugar - white one will be fine.
How long do these keep for?
Hi Cat, forever… as long as they are cooked, they will keep for years to come.
Loved the fact that how easy this recipe was. I will definitely be trying honey pickled cucumber. i love cucumber and eat it in any form.
Wow this sounds absolutely amazing! I actually think I might have to try this! I’ve never pickled anything before!
I’m a huge cucumber fan, would never have thought of this but it sounds and looks delicious:)
Never heard of pickling cucumbers. This recipe sounds really lovely xx
I love most pickled things, something I think I’ve a higher vinegar count that water in my body. I’ve never tried pickling anything myself.
Wow these sound absolutely delicious - what a great combo to pair together!
I love making pickles, but the addition of honey is a sweet touch (hehehe).
What a fun idea! I love this combination of flavors. Thank you for sharing!
I love this idea! I imagine the spices and sweet honey are sensational together.
Interesting recipe! Love this pickle recipe using cucumbers. Never tried it..will try it soon.
My dad loves picked cucumber so I might have to attempt making my own at some point x
I love sweet pickles! Such a great idea with adding honey to sweeten this up even more! You need to give mum a hug for me for this. 🙂
This recipe is so timely for me since I have a few extra cucumbers that I need to use up! Love this sweet and tart twist!
Ooooh wow, I love this twist on pickling!! I sometimes find normal ones too acidic, so I bet I would love the sweeter notes of these, will have to make some soon!
The combo of spice and honey must be wonderful!