​Make the most out of the last spoonful

Before you throw away that jar with only a bit left inside, turn it into a dressing, sauce, glaze or even a drink instead

Making a dressing with the last inch of honey is perhaps the most efficient and satisfying way to deal with a near-empty jar. Pour in a bit of boiling water and some lemon juice, orange juice or red-wine vinegar, screw on the lid, then shake aggressively so the honey dislodges and dissolves into a syrup. Now add everything else – olive oil, a bit of mustard and whatever else you fancy – and shake again to emulsify. This dressing is great with one of the most useful, speedy and cheap salads in existence, namely shredded red and white cabbage, grated carrot, possibly with grated apple. Alternatively, use the same dressing on a seasonal salad of radicchio, hazelnuts and gorgonzola. And if the remnants in a jar happen to be mustard, do exactly the same as above, just inverting the order and adding honey later.

Felicity Cloake also suggests a dressing in her four healing honey recipes, which also function as suggestions for using the stuff up. Her suggestion of a hot toddy is great – add hot water into a jar with a centimetre of honey left, shake, then pour the now syrupy liquid into a glass or mug and add a curl of lemon peel, a knob of ginger, a cinnamon stick, a few cloves and a large dose of whisky, too, for a really effective cure. Her honey peanut butter is another way: put two tablespoons of hot water in the peanut butter jar, shake, then add honey to make a dip for celery and carrot, or add the mixture to cake batter.