Honey Balls from Outlander
Imagine a jar of tiny, sugar dusted honey balls, each one hard and crunchy, sweet with honey and bright with lemon or lime.
That is the treat at the heart of this recipe, and it takes only five basic ingredients plus a clip on candy thermometer.
It is a playful project for home cooks and pop culture fans, and it is simple enough for a beginner who is willing to watch a bubbling pot with care.
The idea comes from Dragonfly in Amber, the second book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Outlander also became an award winning television series on STARZ.
In the book, the candies appear as small yellowish lumps, a brief food mention that sparked a full recipe. The recipe was shared to mark Outlander season 6 airing on STARZ, and it follows an earlier Outlander inspired recipe for Scottish Bannocks from the same source.
If you enjoy recipes that grow out of books, films, and television, this one is a sweet place to start, and you can find the original Honey Balls recipe.
Grab your candy thermometer, watch that bubbly pot like a hawk, and you will soon have a jar of tiny sugar dusted honey balls ready for snacking or sharing. They are small on purpose, because the candy is intensely sweet, and a little piece goes a long way. They also make a charming gift in a jar.
Jump To
Required Ingredients & Equipment
With some care, this straightforward recipe is not overly fussy. You do not need a long shopping list or special pantry items. You need plain ingredients, a tall pan, a reliable thermometer, and molds ready before the syrup gets hot.
Preparation is 5 minutes and cooking is 15 minutes, and then the candies need about 2 hours to set completely, so plan for that setting time on top of the active cooking time.
The yield is given as varies, because it depends on the size of the mold cavities, and no serving number is given.
Here are the ingredients, exactly as listed for the recipe:
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon or lime juice
- 1/4 cup honey
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Plain granulated white sugar forms the candy base. A little tap water helps dissolve the sugar as the mixture heats. Lemon or lime juice adds extra tang, and you can use your favorite brand of honey for the defining flavor.
Citrus was probably unavailable in the eighteenth century Scottish Highlands, or it was a rare and costly import, so this citrus is a modern addition. It is a small amount, but it lifts the honey.
For equipment, you will need a medium saucepan with plenty of room above the liquid, a clip on candy thermometer for constant monitoring, silicone candy molds, and a tablespoon or 1/4 cup measuring cup for pouring.
A clip on thermometer is essential, because you need to watch the temperature closely until the mixture reaches hard crack stage, about 300 degrees Fahrenheit. That temperature is what makes the cooled candy crunchy rather than tacky or gooey.
Silicone molds work best, and the source used one with more than 400 half inch cavities without filling them all. Other small cavity sizes and shapes can be chosen for variety, so you do not need to fill every cavity in a large mold.
Here is the method, in order:
- In a medium saucepan, add sugar and water. Set over medium low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, then add lemon or lime juice and honey.
- Fit pan with a candy thermometer and increase heat to medium high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches hard crack stage, about 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Mixture will look bubbly and foamy.
- Remove pan from heat and let cool for just a minute or two, stirring to let the bubbles calm down. Use a tablespoon or 1/4 cup measuring cup to pour hot mixture into candy molds. Let set up completely, about 2 hours.
- Dust with powdered sugar to keep the candy from sticking together. The candies will continue to be sticky after sitting out for a while, so keep the storage guidance in the next sections in mind before you put them away.
Possible Problems
Although the process is fairly simple, several points need attention, and most of them come down to heat, timing, and humidity. A little planning here will save you from a sticky mess and from candy that never quite sets hard.
- Use a pan with plenty of vertical space above the liquid, because the mixture bubbles and foams as it cooks. Spillover would leave a seriously sticky mess, so do not fill a small pan to the top.
- Watch temperature closely with a candy or deep fry thermometer that clips onto the pot. Temperature control is the most important part of homemade candy making.
- Cook to hard crack stage, about 300 degrees Fahrenheit. If the mixture is not cooked to this temperature, it will not be hard and crunchy when cooled. If it is cooked too hot, it will have a slightly burned, unpleasant flavor.
- When temperature is reached, the candy will still be bubbling. Pull the pan off the heat and let it settle for a minute or two while stirring, then transfer it promptly. Do not let it cool too much, or it will start setting up in the pan and be difficult to pour into molds.
- Handle very hot syrup with care. Keep the thermometer clipped in place so you can read it without reaching over bubbling syrup, and keep hands, sleeves, and towels clear of the pan.
- Do not rely on time alone, especially at high altitude, where boiling behavior can differ. Watch the thermometer reading, because that reading, not the clock, tells you when the candy has reached hard crack stage.
Storage needs just as much care as cooking. Humidity is damaging to homemade hard candy, so after dusting with powdered sugar, keep the candy in a fully airtight container in a cool place.
The source materials give different advice on this point, with the main article guidance pointing to the freezer and not the fridge, while the recipe card points to the refrigerator.
Because those sources disagree, this article does not present one of those choices as the only certain rule. The shared, safe ground is a fully airtight container in a cool, dry place, away from humidity, so the candies stay as crunchy as possible.
If your candies turn sticky, humidity and undercooking are the usual suspects. Check that the syrup truly reached about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, dust lightly with powdered sugar, and store the finished pieces airtight and dry.
A candy that feels soft after cooling was probably not cooked long enough to reach hard crack stage, while a candy with a burned taste was probably cooked too hot.
Both problems are easier to avoid the next time once you know what to watch for in the pot.
What Kind of Candy Mold To Use?
Silicone molds are preferred, because their flexibility makes it easier to release the sticky candy after the hot mixture has cooled and set. A flexible silicone mold lets you pop each piece out with far less trouble.
The mold used for the photographed candies was a 468 cavity mini round silicone mold. It makes tiny half inch candies, and that size was found to be ideal for a candy this sweet.
Its flexible form made popping the candies out easy, which matters when you have many small pieces to release. A 255 cavity heart shaped silicone mold makes candies of a similar size in a heart shape, so you can change the look without changing the basic recipe.
Choose a mold with smaller cavities and varied shapes if you want variety, and remember that one batch will not fill all the cavities in a very large mold.
Before you pour, set the molds on a steady surface where they can sit undisturbed while the candy sets. The candies need about 2 hours to set completely, so choose a cool, dry spot and resist the urge to move them early.
Once they are firm, pop them out gently, dust them with powdered sugar, and store them airtight as described above.
What Would You Like To See?
Now it is your turn to weigh in. Do you also enjoy recipes inspired by popular culture, the kind that start with a line in a book or a scene in a show and end up in your kitchen?
Do you enjoy copycat versions of favorite restaurant dishes, where you try to recreate a flavor you loved eating out? Both can turn a simple pantry project into something fun to share.
Tell us what you would like to see next, whether it is another book inspired sweet, a film inspired treat, or a copycat dish you have been craving at home. Your ideas help shape what comes next.
You Might Like These Recipes
If you enjoyed this sweet, small batch candy, these other recipes may catch your eye:
- Honey Vanilla Ice Cream without eggs
- Old Fashioned Date Balls
- Honey Glazed Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls
- Milk Chocolate S’mores Moose Munch Copycat
Two more ideas from this site are also worth a look if you like small, sweet bites: Homemade honey buns and Lemon turmeric energy balls. Each one offers a different way to enjoy honey and citrus flavors.
FAQs
What are honey balls?
Honey balls are small, hard, sugar-dusted candies made from sugar, water, honey, and fresh lemon or lime juice. They are intensely sweet, so small pieces work best, and they are meant to be hard and crunchy rather than soft or gooey. A light coating of powdered sugar helps keep the finished pieces from sticking together.
How do you make honey balls at home?
Dissolve 3/4 cup white granulated sugar in 1/2 cup water over medium-low heat, then add 1/4 cup fresh lemon or lime juice and 1/4 cup honey. Clip a candy thermometer to the pan, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook until the mixture reaches about 300°F. Let it cool for a minute or two, pour it into silicone molds, and let the candies set completely for about 2 hours before dusting them with powdered sugar.
What temperature should honey balls reach?
Honey balls should reach the hard crack stage, about 300°F, measured with a candy thermometer clipped to the pan. At this stage, almost all the water has boiled away, so the cooled syrup turns glassy and brittle instead of soft or chewy. If the syrup is undercooked, the candies will stay soft and tacky, and if it is cooked too hot, it can taste slightly burned.
Why are my honey balls sticky?
Stickiness is most often caused by undercooking, damp air, or storage in a container that is not fully sealed. Cook the syrup to about 300°F, let the candies cool and set completely for about 2 hours, and dust them with powdered sugar before storing them. Keep them in a fully airtight container in a cool, dry place and keep the container closed between servings.
Honey Balls
Honey Balls from Outlander Imagine a jar of tiny, sugar dusted honey balls, each one hard and crunchy, sweet with honey and bright with lemon or lime. That is the treat at the heart of this recipe, and it takes only five basic ingredients plus a clip on candy thermometer.
- Total Time: 20 min
- Yield: Varies
Ingredients
Ingredients
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon or lime juice, fresh
1/4 cup honey
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
Instructions
1-In a medium saucepan, add sugar and: In a medium saucepan, add sugar and water. Set over medium low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, then add lemon or lime juice and honey.
2-Fit pan with a candy thermometer and: Fit pan with a candy thermometer and increase heat to medium high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches Hard Crack stage, about 300F. Mixture will look bubbly and foamy.
3-Remove pan from heat and let cool: Remove pan from heat and let cool for just a minute or two, stirring to let the bubbles calm down. Use a tablespoon or 1/4 cup measuring cup to pour hot mixture into candy molds. Let set up completely, about 2 hours.
4-Dust with powdered sugar to keep the: Dust with powdered sugar to keep the candy from sticking together. They will continue to be sticky after sitting out for a while, so store leftovers in the refrigerator to keep them nice and neat.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Method: stovetop
