How To Make Honey Fermented Fruit At Home

Nutritional Benefits

Nutritionally, honey-fermented fruit offers a combination of benefits from both the fruit and the raw honey. For starters, using raw honey as the fermentation medium creates a naturally sweet, pre and probiotic-rich treat. One that is especially rich in digestive enzymes along with a variety of beneficial bacteria. This makes it a great food for gut health and immune function.

The fruit contributes a range of vitamins, minerals like vitamin C, various B vitamins, and potassium, in addition to antioxidants and dietary fibre. Raw honey has plenty to add too! It’s a complex substance containing natural sugars, several enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, as well as potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Add to this the fermentation process further increasing the bioavailability of certain nutrients as well as enhancing the antioxidant activity of both the fruit and the honey – and we have a wild ferment with some pretty impressive health benefits. 

Depending on the fermentation method used, fruit ferments can be far simpler and less time consuming than vegetable fermentation, which is often what attracts people to them. And a honey ferment is the best of them all. It requires minimal ingredients, minimal equipment, and little time.

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• Raw honey – it must be raw to ensure fermentation occurs. Check the jar closely as honey labelling can be a little confusing. See the ‘Does It Matter What Type Of Honey You Use?’ section below for things to look out for.
• Ripe fruit – I’ve used nectarines for my ferment. Don’t be limited by this though. Try any fruit you’d like or see the ‘What Fruit To Ferment’ section below for some ideas.

Fermenting is an excellent way to preserve fruit at its peak ripeness, extending its availability beyond its typical season. Tipping some of this honey and a piece or two of nectarine over your breakfast mid-winter will give you a gorgeous little taste of summer to warm your day.

Honey fermentation, sometimes referred to as honey preservation, involves covering fruit in raw honey and allowing naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria in the honey and on the fruit skin to ferment the honey’s sugars. This creates a honey that has been infused with the flavour of the fruit while the breaks down a little, softens, and takes on the honey flavour.

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1. Thoroughly wash 2-3 nectarines (or your fruit of choice), de-seed, and cut into medium-sized wedges. I go for roughly 4-5 wedges for each half of the nectarine.
2. Add the fresh fruit into a 1.5 pint/750ml jar so it’s roughly half full. Use a 1 pint/500ml for a smaller batch.
3. Pour over the raw honey until it just covers the fruit. Give the honey a couple of minutes to make its way through the nectarine wedges to the bottom of the jar. Once it has, give it a gentle stir with a clean chopstick or spoon. This will help get the honey into all the little spaces in the jar.
4. Add a little more honey on top to finish ensuring the jar is no more than 3/4 full. This is important as it leaves enough room for fermentation to occur at which time the honey may become frothy and bubble up.
5. Store the jars in a cool, dark place to ferment at room temperature for 5-7 days. It’s ready when the nectarines look soft and are completely submerged in the honey. You’ll see that the honey has also become very liquid and will slosh around like water.
6. When fermentation is complete, move the jar to the fridge to extend the shelf life.

During the initial stages of fermentation, some bubbling and pressure buildup may occur. To address this, “burp” the jars daily for the first few days by briefly opening it to release the accumulated gases. I also stir the mix with a clean chopstick at this point. I find with fruit like nectarines and peaches I rarely get a batch that bubbles wildly. The fermentation is always quite subtle with very small bubbles showing around the edges of the jar. Even so, leaving plenty of headroom in the jar will ensure there is enough space for the mixture to bubble and expand should that occur. It’s always better to be safe than sorry where ferments are concerned.

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A lemon and ginger honey ferment is the perfect antidote for coughs and sore throats. To make it:

1. Thoroughly wash lemons to ensure all residue is removed from the skins.
2. Slice lemons (roughly ⅛ of an inch or a couple of millimetres thick).
3. Peel a 1-inch (2.5cm) piece of ginger then slice half and grate the other half.
4. Pour a little raw honey into the bottom of the jar, add a few slices of lemon, some of the ginger then pour over more honey. Keep layering until you’ve finished the lemon and ginger then finish with honey on the top. Do make sure the lemon is completely covered in the honey.
5. Leave to ferment on the bench for a week in a cool, dark place then move to the fridge for longer storage.

This ferment gives you a great little remedy to have on hand that will get you through winter! I make it in a smaller jar and fill to the top because it never bubbles over. No need for the extra headroom so use up all that space!

Fermentation can occur rapidly in hot and humid weather, and you may find your ferment really bubbles up. To avoid liquid spilling out don’t skip on ‘burping’ your jar a few times a day. Particularly on days 2 and 3 if its needed.

Always sit jars of active ferments in a bowl. There is nothing worse than going to check on them in the morning only to find the contents have bubbled up and over the rim… and right down your shelf, over books or into cupboards. The bowl will catch any of that if it occurs.

If you want your ferment to remain quite sweet, don’t make huge jars. Just make enough to consume over the next few months. I keep it to roughly pint size (500ml). If making very big batches that sit for months or years, your ferment will become much less sweet. When fruit is fermented in honey, much like garlic, it will start to release liquid. This liquid dilutes the honey, and natural yeasts consume and ferment the sugar it contains. Over time this will start to make a very mildly alcoholic concoction called a melomel – an ancient alcoholic beverage that’s basically a fruit honey wine and occurs because natural fermentation continues the longer the jar of honey and fruit (plus the liquid) sits.

Using clean jars is also VERY important. I don’t sterilise the jars I use but I do rinse them under boiling hot water before adding the ingredients in. The spoon or chopstick you use must also be spotless.

• Raw honey is unpasteurized and unfiltered, which means it retains all of its nutrients in addition to the bacteria and yeasts needed to kickstart the fermentation process.
• Unfiltered honey is honey that still contains particles that get into the honey while it’s being made. This includes things like pollen and wax. This type of honey is usually, but not always, raw – so before buying, pay close attention to the label. It should say raw and unfiltered. If it simply says unfiltered, it may not be raw. 
• Organic honey is not necessarily raw, unfiltered or unpasteurised. The organic label just means the bees have produced honey from the nectar of organic plants. 
• Pure honey is filtered to remove any debris, like bits of bees and pollen, but yeast and bacteria often get removed too. It’s also warmed to make the filtration process simpler as this thins the honey. Heating means this type of honey isn’t raw.

More Fermentation Recipes

• Fermented Garlic Honey
• Fig Butter
• How To Make Sour Pickles

If you try this recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment, rate it, and remember to tag @wholenaturalkitchen in your pics or reels on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok!