An earlier post reported the rising alarm about artificial and adulterated honey during the late 1800s. But for a time, artificial honey was a celebrated new product.
Probably this was rooted in the excitement about the industrialization of everything. Corn syrup was invented in 1811, and before long was sold by the barrelful. Margarine came in 1869 to challenge butter. It’s not surprising that a fake honey, ‘just as good’ as the real thing, took its turn.
How to make artificial honey:
War years are a time for making do with artificial forms of products, which in the US have included ersatz coffee and margarine, supplied with a packet of yellow dye you could stir in the better simulate butter. Perhaps focused on it because of World War I shortages, and under the title “Making Honey at Home,” the Evening Sun shared this:
Artificial honey has been manufactured for many years in Europe. It gives satisfaction in cakes, etc. These recipes will give excellent results, and the finished article can scarcely be told from the genuine.
The recipes laid down used glucose and some pure honey.1)The Evening Sun, April 7, 1919.
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