Cane honey soups: La Palma recipe for Carnival

A honey soup (or honey cane soup) is a typical Carnival recipe, which is traditionally made in La Palma and in other areas of Spain. Find out what they are and how to make them at home.

Honey Soups are traditional sweets from the Island of La Palma and are prepared to taste during the Carnival Festivities. It is a very old recipe from Isla Palmera, simple to prepare, it is very tasty and like all traditional recipes it has been passed down from generation to generation.

The honey soups are prepared with stale bread, in the past these sweets were prepared at other times of the year to take advantage of the stale bread that was left, the soups are made with cane honey, with another variety of honey they are not the same.

The Canarian Carnival confectionery is very rich and varied, in all the Canary Islands Carnival is lived and enjoyed with great intensity.

How to prepare honey cane soups?

Ingredients:

• 3 hard loaves, (at least 4 days old) cut into slices.
• Cane honey, 920 grams.
• 100ml of water.
• A stick of cinnamon.
• A teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
• A teaspoon of anise grains, (matalahuga)
• The grated skin of a lemon.
• 150 grams of toasted or fried almonds.

Elaboration:

1. Cut the bread into rather thick slices and reserve it.
2. In a cauldron with a wide bottom, put the honey, the water and stir to integrate well.
3. Add the lemon zest, the anise grains, the cinnamon stick, the ground cinnamon, half of the toasted almonds to the honey, stir and cook the honey over moderate heat.
4. Cook until it starts to boil.
5. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat, remove the cinnamon stick and place the slices of bread in the honey one by one so that they are bathed in honey.
6. Turn the slices over on both sides, being careful not to break them.
7. We are removing the slices of bread with the help of a slotted spoon so that the honey drains well and placing them on a tray or plate to take them to the table.
8. We serve the honey soupswith the rest of the toasted almonds on top.

How to eat honey soup?

Honey Soups can be tasted at any time of the day when we feel like a sweet bite, also as a dessert or as a snack. The truth is that they are ideal at any time, although it is true that the ideal is to consume them as a dessert or as a snack, without a doubt.

The tradition on the Island of La Palma, for example, is to offer these sweets to the mascaritas who visit relatives, friends or neighbors. An island that, by the way, has a great carnival tradition. An example is the celebration of Los Indianos, which has been celebrated on this island since 1920, when a group of friends got together to enjoy this festivity.

It is, almost without a doubt, a traditional recipe so popular that it is very reminiscent of childhood, as it is a carnival dessert that has been made on La Palma for many years, in the same way as other typical sweets.

We hope that you are encouraged to prepare the Honey Soups and that you like them.