Honey-Fermented Charoset

If you’ve never heard of charoset, you can think of it as a kind of biblical-era ambrosia. It is one of several symbolic foods eaten by Jews during the holiday of Passover. Charoset can be understood to mean “mortar,” derived from the Hebrew word cheres which is clay, as its consistency is meant to remind one of the building material used to build during the days of slavery in Egypt. Whoever you are, Jewish or not, religious or not, if the idea of apples, nuts, honey, dried fruit, spices, and wine mixed together sounds good, you’ll be sure to like charoset.

For this Passover (2019), I wanted to start putting together unique fermentation recipes for the Seder table. (Seder being the festive meal associated with Passover.) This led me first to make my fermented maror (horseradish) recipe. More recently I put up a recipe for beet-kvass pickled eggs and a video for making traditional charoset and red beet prepared horseradish.

2021 Update: I also now have this educational video I prepared for the fermentation squad known as Culturesgroup for making this honey fermented charoset. Here it is:

Charoset is always eaten together with maror, which translates as “bitter herbs,” typically horseradish, on a piece of matzah. This is known as the “Hillel Sandwich.” Well I think Mr. Hillel would love the combo of lacto-fermented (i.e. saltwater fermented) maror and honey-fermented charoset. Who knows? Maybe these items used to be traditionally fermented in antiquity anyway. I tend to think there’s a very good chance.

If you want to know more about the details of honey ferments, please visit my post on that subject. If you want to just follow this recipe, then all you need to know is that honey will preserve your food. (You’ll want to give it a thorough stir each day or simply turn the jar upside down and back every 24 hours – either way you’ll be able to stop after about a week or two.) As the days pass, the fruit (or other produce) added to honey will stay submerged all by itself. Eventually you won’t need to do anything and it can sit indefinitely. It’s also okay to open and taste honey ferments as they develop (but kindly don’t double dip!), whereas in lacto-ferments (salt brine fermenting), it is advised not to open jars until you’re ready to start eating and keeping in cool storage.

Now let’s get to the recipe!

This recipe will make about 12 servings.

Notes: I don’t recommend fermenting the nuts in the honey. In my recipe, the nuts are added within a day or so of serving the charoset. At that time the charoset should be stored in the refrigerator, if it wasn’t already. (Nuts can be omitted, or replaced by seeds, if allergies are an issue.)

Also at the time of adding the nuts , the honey can be strained from the fruit mixture. It’s a lot of honey (much more than in a normal charoset) and will have acquired a deep color and flavor from the fruits and spices. It can be used in and on all manner of desserts, dressings, teas, marinades, etc. It could even be used as the dipping honey for apples on Rosh HaShanah (the Jewish New Year). My plan is to use it to make “charoset mead” (honey wine).

As with any ferment, the more organic produce used, the livelier the ferment tends to be.

For the dried fruits, if you don’t want to use all three, or you prefer others, that’s fine. Some of these dried fruits (e.g. mango, pineapple, coconut, etc.) weigh less by volume than dates, figs, etc. and therefore a pound of it may fill up more space; however, there will most likely still be enough room in your jar for a pound of whichever dried fruit(s) you add. If you begin to run out of space, just reduce some of the fruit mix added.

Time needed: Prepare at least a week before serving. Two or more weeks preferred. The flavors will meld more and the sweetness will reduce slightly with more time. My own ferment shown here lasted 5-6 weeks.

You will need: Knife & cutting board (or food processor); measuring spoons; half gallon mason jar; plastic lid (preferable to metal); wooden spoon; mixing/serving bowl to combine nuts with charoset; suggested: canning funnel

Ingredients:

• 3 medium apples, finely diced (Granny Smith or other sour apples provide a good contrast to the sweetness; on the other hand, I used Opal apples which are extremely sweet and crisp) ~500g before cored
• 1/3 lb. dried figs, finely diced
• 1/3 lb. dried apricots, finely diced
• 1/3 lb. pitted dates, finely diced
• 1 chunk ginger, finely grated (~30g)
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6-7 ground cloves (1/4 tsp)
• 1/4 cup pomegranate juice or red Passover wine (or half and half, i.e. 2 TBSP of each)
• 2 lbs. or more unpasteurized honey (two of these); (I used 36 oz., slightly over 2 lbs.)
• 2 TBSP filtered or distilled or otherwise clean water
• Optional: 2 TBSP date syrup
• Optional: for charoset with a little kick, add 1 tsp cayenne powder

After the ferment:

~6-8 oz. nuts, chopped (I used pistachio but walnut, pecan, cashew, or a mix are all recommended); add when ferment is refrigerated

Directions:

1.) Wash the apples and then finely dice. Cutting by hand will give the best consistency, but if for time sake you use a food processor, just be careful not to go too thin, resulting in a mushy charoset.

2.) Process the rest of the ingredients as described above. Mix all ingredients in a bowl together. The cinnamon sticks can be placed in as well (they will be removed when you refrigerate the ferment later on).

3.) Place a couple handfuls of the mixture into the jar, followed by some of the honey. This will speed up the honey coating everything. (Alternately, it’s fine to put in all the fruit mix first, then add all the honey, it will just take some time for the honey to sink down and cover everything.) Finish by adding the 2 TBSP water and giving everything a good stir.

4.) Cover with a lid. Each day, stir the mix thoroughly with the wooden spoon. Alternately, you can turn the jar upside down every day. Especially with this method, placing the jar inside a bowl or on a towel is recommended, as small amounts of the honey will typically escape the lid.

5.) Over the first several hours, you will notice the honey becomes much more watery. This is due to the honey pulling moisture from the produce, especially the apples and ginger.

You may also notice bubbling in the honey as the days pass. If you are turning the jar upside down (rather than stirring), you can “burp” the jar every few days (allow some built up gases to escape). This is all a sign of a normal, healthy ferment.

Final Preparation: Prior to serving (e.g. earlier that day or the day before), it is recommended to separate the honey liquid from the fruit mix (using a mesh strainer or a straining bag like this. As noted above, make sure to save this liquid gold for its many uses! If you want to present the charoset as it would normally be served, it wouldn’t come in a lake of 2+ pounds of honey! (Maybe it should?) So I really recommend straining it out. Once the excess honey liquid is separated away, you should then add your chopped nuts to the charoset and mix well.

Ferment length / lack of fermentation: My featured photos are of a charoset that was fermented for five weeks, and in the future I’d like to go a few months to a year, making the next year’s charoset just after the seder!

All that said, as noted before, at least a week is recommended for the flavors to really come together, but signs of fermentation will be swift, possibly in the first day (bubbles, some gases forming, etc.). In other words, if you only have a few days to ferment, it will still be a tasty and unique charoset.

If you are able to ferment for longer, taking a small taste each week is recommended (I’m sure you won’t mind!). As a mead-type ferment, the sweetness level can reduce, albeit slowly and probably not to where it isn’t sufficiently sweet. However, if it gets to where you don’t want it to lose any more sweetness, or you just want to “lock in” the flavor you achieved, place it in the refrigerator.

If you think that no fermentation activity is taking place, the honey will still preserve the ingredients and there isn’t much to worry about; you can still eat it and it will be delicious.

On the other hand, to get fermentation going, a likely culprit is lack of sufficient water. Try to ensure you are using fresh, crisp, juicy apples. Ideally, go organic. But if fermentation is still seemingly stalled, add 1-2 TBSP clean water to the mix and see if that works over the next few days. Repeat again after a few days as needed. If you have other active honey ferments, you can also add a spoonful of that liquid as a starter.

If there is no effect noticed over a period of a week or so, then the problem could be due to a lack of yeast in the honey and produce, or cold ambient temperatures. Lack of yeast could have been due to pasteurization or other unknown disruptions to the honey, or produce that was chemically treated to excess. (As stated earlier, don’t get pasteurized honey!)

Depending on where you live, March can still be a cold time in many homes, and honey ferments perform best in warmer environments around 70F. Consider placing the ferment near a heat source like a space heater until you start to get some visible activity.

Other uses for honey fermented charoset and honey:

I used the excess honey to create a “charoset mead” that’s been aging now for two years! It smells amazing.

I had some leftover charoset sitting in airtight refrigerator storage for two years! It was super delicious; rolled into balls and covered with sesame seeds and garnished with some spring mint for use at another seder. Unbelievable flavor!

I’d love to see your own fermented charoset creations! Please check out our Facebook Fermenting Community with new members joining all the time!