How to Make Creamed Honey
- Helen Humphreys
- Jun 22
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 1
Sticky facts, sweet results: discover the magic behind that irresistibly smooth and creamy texture - and how to do it yourself with 5 (mostly) easy methods.
Creamed Honey
Also known as whipped, spun, or set honey, creamed honey is that irresistibly smooth, spreadable honey so many of us love. But what exactly is it, why go to all the effort and, most importantly, how is it made?
What is Creamed Honey?
Creamed honey is 100% pure honey - nothing added. What makes it different is its smooth, creamy texture, achieved by carefully controlling the crystallisation process.
Why it's Worth the Effort
Creamed honey takes a bit more time and care than simply jarring up liquid honey - but the results speak for themselves.
Smooth texture – it’s spreadable!
No more drips or sticky spoons. Creamed honey spreads like butter on toast - no mess, no waste, all delicious.
Premium appearance Let’s be honest - it just looks good. That soft, satin finish in the jar elevates the product and makes it stand out.
Better shelf stability
Creamed honey resists further crystallisation and maintains its texture longer, especially when stored at the right temperature.
Great for infused flavours
Whether it's chocolate (yes, chocolate!), cinnamon, vanilla bean, lemon myrtle or chilli, creamed honey is the perfect base. The stable texture holds flavours beautifully without separation.
Makes perfect gifts!
With its visual appeal and luxurious feel, creamed honey makes a thoughtful, handmade gift that people actually want to receive.
So what’s going on inside the jar to give creamed honey its signature smoothness? Let’s take a look at the science behind those tiny crystals.
The Sugars Behind the Crystals
All honey will eventually crystallise, but creamed honey contains fine, uniform, round crystals, rather than the large, gritty ones often found in naturally crystallised honey. The magic lies in crystal size, and temperature control.
While I won’t delve too deeply into this, there are some things that are helpful to know in order to better understand the science behind making creamed honey.
Honey is a supersaturated sugar solution.
The two main sugars it contains are glucose and fructose.
Glucose
Is less soluble and crystallises quickly.
Fructose
Is more soluble and stays liquid longer.
When glucose exceeds what the water in honey can hold in solution, it starts to form crystals. The higher the glucose, the faster it crystallises.
High-glucose honeys like Canola and Clover crystallise quickly.
High-fructose honeys like Jarrah stay liquid longer.
Other contributors to crystallisation include water content, microparticles, temperature, agitation, and time.
Water Content
If water content is under ~18% there is less solvent for the sugars.
Microparticles
Pollen, wax and air bubbles act as nucleation points where crystals can start to form.
Temperature Matters
Cool temperatures (10–15°C) encourage crystallisation while warm temperatures (>25°C) or freezing conditions slow or reverse it.
Stirring and Time
Stirring (or churning) encourages controlled crystallisation. Left alone, raw honey will crystallise over time, often unevenly.
How Creamed Honey is Made
The Seed Honey
To control the crystallisation process, a starter is used - this is called seed honey. It’s finely crystallised honey which acts as a template or 'starter culture' to encourage smooth, even crystal growth.
Where to get seed honey
Commercial product
These can be purchased from the supermarket, or you may find a local beekeeper who makes creamed honey.
Make your own
Crush or grind a naturally crystallised jar of your own honey. This can be ground down into a seed honey by mashing or grinding to a find paste. A food processor or mortar and pestle can be used for this. Rubbing it between thumb and forefinger is a great way to feel the grittiness. What you are looking for is a smooth, non-gritty texture.
Reuse a previous batch of creamed honey
If the texture was good, save some to use again.
How to Use Seed Honey
You would typically use 1 part seed honey to 10 parts liquid honey, or 10-20% seed honey to liquid honey. It is important to ensure that the liquid honey you are using does not contain any crystals. It can be warmed to 30-35°C (if needed) to dissolve any existing crystals. During the crystallisation process, the crystals forming as the glucose comes out of solution ‘mimics’ any existing crystals. So you only want your seed crystals to be present!
The seed honey needs to be thoroughly mixed through the liquid honey, typically done by stirring or churning, before being jarred and left to set.
The Experiment
I had a few 20L buckets of crystallised honey set aside for making creamed honey, and I finally decided to do something with them - partly because Creamed Honey kept popping up on the WA Apiarists’ Society (WAAS) Bunbury Chapter feedback forms under the Future Meeting Topic Suggestions section, and partly because I really wanted to test out the commercial creamer gathering dust in the corner.
The goals were simple:
Determine whether I could make creamed honey without uncrystallising the honey (i.e., a raw method using churning to reshape the crystals).
Find the best (and easiest) method for making a saleable, smooth, delicious product.
Create samples and a PowerPoint presentation for the next WAAS meeting.
Free up some much-needed storage space!
I tested five different methods - ranging from kitchen-friendly to commercial scale - to see what really works.
One method used our large-batch commercial creamer. The other four were intentionally chosen with our WAAS members in mind (who are mostly hobbyist beekeepers) as they were small-batch methods and could be done easily in a home kitchen, using equipment many would already have on hand.
The Dyce Method
Fully Controlled | Relies on Introduced Seed
NO LONGER RAW
This was the only method where I used commercial seed honey, as I was curious to compare the result to the four other methods I was trialling (which did not use seed honey).
Heat to 65°C for 15 mins
Dissolves all crystals and kills yeast cells.
I used my Thermomix (Speed 1 | no whisk) for this step. The Thermomix’s 65°C setting didn’t actually bring the honey to temperature, so I increased the setting and used a laser thermometer on the honey to achieve this step.
Strain through fine mesh sieve
Removes fine impurities.
Cool quickly to 15-24°C
Slow cooling results in an inferior product.
Many recipes call for putting the honey in the freezer and stirring every 5 mins. My freezers are full! So I stirred continuously over an ice bath.
Introduce seed honey
I used Wescobee Creamed Honey which I'd kept hidden in the pantry.
Mix thoroughly
I used a silicone mixing spoon and a bit of muscle!!
Pour into jars
Store at 12.8°C undisturbed for 7-14 days
The Commercial Creamer
Relies on churning to shape the natural crystals
RAW
Add crystallised honey to creamer bucket
Mix for 48 hours
-15 mins ON | 45 mins OFF -
Pour into jars
Store in refrigerator for 7-14 days
Thermomix
Relies on heat and the churning to shape the natural crystals
RAW
Add crystallised honey to the mixing bowl
30°C | Speed 2 | with whisk attachment
Stop when it turns opaque | ~5-10 mins
Pour into jars
Store in refrigerator for 7-14 days
Stand Mixer (Short)
Relies on the churning to shape the natural crystals
(and a little heat generated by the bowl)
RAW
Add crystallised honey to the mixing bowl
Mix 4 mins | medium speed | with whisks
Pour into jars
Store in refrigerator for 7-14 days
Stand Mixer (Long)
Relies on heat and churning to shape the natural crystals
RAW
Add crystallised honey to the mixing bowl
Repeat 4 times | medium speed | with whisk:
- Mix 20 mins | Rest 2 hours -
Do not allow bowl temperature to exceed 30°C
Pour into jars
Store in refrigerator for 7-14 days
What Happened Next?
Five different methods, same batch of honey - and a whole lot of creamed honey sitting on my kitchen bench.
Some relied on heat, some didn’t. One used seed, the others didn’t. And one method definitely wasn’t for the faint-hearted (or the impatient).
But the big question was: which one actually tasted the best?
To find out, I took them to our WAAS Bunbury Chapter meeting and put them to the test in a good old-fashioned blind tasting.
Let’s just say the results weren’t what I expected...
Part 2 Coming Soon
I’ll reveal which method came out on top, why one didn’t get a single vote, what I learned along the way, and what I’d do differently next time...
Want to have a guess at the winning method (no cheating if you attended the taste testing session!)? Do you have a creamed honey tip worth sharing?
Leave a comment below or send us a message through our contact form.
Helen Humphreys Passionate Beekeeper Trainer | Mentor | Producer
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