Pumpkin Honey

Pumpkin honey comes from the sprawling vines of Cucurbita pepo, sown from late May into early July across the agricultural belts of Illinois, which grows three to four times more pumpkins than any other state, and on through Ohio, Michigan, New York and California. The vines flower in mid and late summer, and the blossoms are generous, yielding 18 to 79 microlitres of nectar apiece at 40 to 50 percent sugar. The catch is the clock: cucurbit flowers open at first light and close by midday, so the colony gets one short shift each morning, which is much of why pure pumpkin honey is genuinely uncommon. What reaches the jar is pale, an extra light amber running golden rather than dark, with an earthy, faintly vegetal sweetness and a spiced finish that owes nothing to pumpkin spice and everything to the vine. It sets fast: cucurbit flowers are prodigious pollen producers, and suspended pollen seeds crystallization, which alongside a glucose-forward sugar balance carries this honey to a smooth, velvety grain within months. Moisture runs 17 to 18.5 percent. Treat the setting as a feature; it spreads cleanly on autumn spice breads and holds its body in a roasted squash glaze.