Move over salted caramel! How ‘swicy’ hot honey is the new flavour in town with booming sales and a huge TikTok fanbase

Australia
By William

By Megan Howe

Published: | Updated:

Salted caramel, gingerbread and pumpkin spice are just a few of the typical flavors of fall. They are used in coffee, pies and all sorts of other sweet treats.

But there’s a new flavour that’s causing a stir in the British food industry: hot ‘swicy’ honey. And it’s definitely spicy.

What started as a pizza topping in New York, this chili-infused honey now has over 912 million followers on TikTok with the hashtag #hothoney.

Additionally, Hilltop Honey has seen a huge increase in hot honey sales over the past month, up 1,049 percent compared to the same period last year.

That’s partly because the product is now also available at Tesco, but Waitrose reports that sales of its hot honey chicken bites have increased by 148 percent in the past week compared to the previous week.

Meanwhile, supermarkets will be putting their Christmas products on the shelves in the coming weeks.

Hot honey was originally used as a pizza topping (photo)

The flavour, a honey infused with chilli peppers, has become hugely popular in the UK in recent weeks

The flavour, a honey infused with chilli peppers, has become hugely popular in the UK in recent weeks

Over the past month, Hilltop Honey has seen explosive growth in hot honey sales, up 1,049 percent compared to the same period last year

Over the past month, Hilltop Honey has seen explosive growth in hot honey sales, up 1,049 percent compared to the same period last year

On the way to ASDA there is a ‘pigs in blankets’ wreath with camembert and warm honey.

At Tesco there’s a ‘nduja and pork wellington with warm honey, and also feta and celeriac snapakopita with warm honey.

Marks and Spencer has a warm honey brie brûlée, as well as warm honey popcorn, warm honey pigs in a blanket and warm honey halloumi in blankets.

Chef Tom Kerridge said he was not surprised by the flavour’s growing popularity.

He told The Times: ‘It goes really well with cheese. If you think of it as a spicy chutney, then it makes sense.’

To him, he said, adding chili to honey is like adding salt to caramel.

“It improves, it enhances the flavor,” he added.

Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge said he was not surprised by the growing popularity of the flavour

Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge said he was not surprised by the growing popularity of the flavour

@dontgobaconmyheart_

Day 16 | 30 days of 30 minute dinners 😋 This dinner is such an amazing combination of flavours! If you’re baking in batches it might take a little longer than 30 minutes so please forgive me in advance. If you’d rather bake, I’ve included instructions in the blog post! Enjoy 😄 Chris x CRISPY HOT HONEY FETA CHICKEN | Serves 4 INGREDIENTS 1/3 cup / 110g honey 1 1/2 tsp hot sauce (I like Frank’s or Cholula) 3/4 tsp chilli flakes 2x 250g / 9oz chicken breasts 2 tsp paprika 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp EACH: onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, black pepper 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 35g / 1/4 cup flour 2 eggs, beaten 65g / 1 cup panko breadcrumbs Vegetable oil, as needed (6-8 tbsp) 200g / 7oz feta, crumbled METHOD 1️⃣Place the honey, hot sauce and chilli flakes in a bowl and microwave (about 20 seconds). Stir and leave to cool. You can also do this on the stovetop in a small pan (just bring to the boil then remove and let cool). You can easily adjust the heat with chilli flakes/hot sauce if you like. 2️⃣Slice the chicken breasts horizontally in half to make 4 equal sized breasts. In a small pan or bowl, mix together the paprika, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano and black pepper. 3️⃣Line up 3 large shallow bowls with a large bowl at the end. The first bowl is the flour + half the spice mix, the second is the beaten egg and the 3rd is the Panko with the rest of the spices. Take the chicken one at a time and coat it in the flour, egg, then breadcrumbs and place on the bowl. Make sure you thoroughly coat the chicken at each stage (especially the breadcrumbs). 4️⃣Add enough oil to cover the base of a large pan and place over medium heat. Once the oil is hot enough for a breadcrumb to sizzle quickly, carefully place it inside the chicken (if you can’t fit 4 in there, work in 2 batches, topping up the oil as needed). Cook for 3-4 minutes each side or until deeply golden and crispy on the outside and white/hot in the middle. Place on a rack over the baking tray. 5️⃣Add the crumbled feta, covering as much of the chicken as possible, then place under the grill on high until just beginning to brown (they should be buttery soft and slightly crispy on top). 6️⃣Serve with an amount of hot honey drizzled over to your liking and enjoy (any leftover honey will do nicely in the fridge).

♬ original sound – Chris Collins

Kathryn Turner, M&S’s director of product development, told The Times that the spicy honey flavour is far from gone and that sweet and spicy are ‘very much in fashion’.

‘I think it’s gaining popularity as much as salted caramel.

‘Next week we’re launching a whole hot honey BBQ chicken for customers to roast at home, and by Christmas we’ll have ten unique hot honey themed products in the M&S Foodhall.’

TikTok users are sharing their best recipes featuring this essential ingredient, ranging from warm honey cheese on toast to warm honey fried chicken, ice cream drizzled with warm honey, and warm honey fruit pie.

It is clear that warm honey, unlike salted caramel, can be used for both main meals and desserts.

JD’s Hot Honey was one of the first companies in the UK to sell a range of products in this flavour.

The business launched in 2021 during lockdown, when Jade Dawson and her husband James began experimenting with homemade Neapolitan pizza toppings.

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