Honey & Cinnamon Pie Cold Process Soap Recipe

Add a little sweet and a little spice to your next project with this Honey and Cinnamon Pie Cold Process Soap recipe!

This soap is quite quick to trace, so don't over blend and I like this uncoloured, allowing the natural honey colour to shine through.  It's best to pour single bars, slabs or trays which are just under 2cm thick, as a hot gel is produced from the Honey (sugar) and the Cinnamon oil, so these shallow moulds avoid overheating (super-gel).  By using the individual cavity moulds, (such as the bee designs, or the shallow Flexible Tray Moulds) you have more control over a hot gel.  It can be a bit tricky as you can halt gel by using the fridge or freezer, and soaping at cooler temperatures than normal, but a tideline can occur.  This is purely aesethetic, but it's something I don't like, so the question for you is....to gel or not to gel??!  

The soap above was made in the 6 Cavity Bee Honeycomb Silicone Mould, you can use the Silicone Tray Moulds too if you prefer the plain design to avoid a hot gel.

Ingredients:

• 400g Olive Oil
• 300g Sustainable Palm Oil
• 200g Coconut Oil
• 100g Cocoa Butter Pellets
• 375g Distilled Water
• 138g Sodium Hydroxide (6% superfat)
  
  
• 1 tbsp Liquid Honey
• 15g/ml Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil
  or
  If you find Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil a little too strong, we recommend using  35 - 50g/ml Fragrance Oil - Oatmeal Milk & Honey Fragrance, Wildflower Honey or Pure Honey Fragrance, which all complement the honey beautifully.  All these fragrances have a vanilla content so will discolour the honey soap a deeper, richer honey colour.

Due to the honey in the recipe we recommend you use a flat or shallow tray mould and avoid excessive insulation in summer and only use light insulation in winter, removing the towel once you see gel stage has been achieved. This is to avoid the soap super-heating. 

Equipment:

Your usual Cold Process equipment including your safety gear, googles, gloves etc
Stick Blender (of course!)
Spatulas
Electronic Scales

Method:

If you are a beginner, we recommend you make a few batches before attempting this soap.  For how to make soap from scratch, please see our Cold Process Soapmaking Instructions.

• Prepare your workspace and set out everything ready to go
• Bring soap to thin trace, and then add the honey and carefully stir through
• Stir in the essential oil or fragrance and ensure it is well mixed - this will begin to set up the batch so work quickly
• Pour immediately into the mould, and spritz the top with Isopropyl Alcohol to prevent ash.  Alternatively, if you don't have a textured top, just cover with a sheet of plastic or acetate once firm enough to lie this over the top without it sticking
• Insulate and watch for gel, and remove insulation as soon as gel has been achieved
• Unmould and slice as usual

Note:  If you are NOT gelling, put the soap straight into the prepared freezer shelf to halt gel.  Allow a week extra in the mould before attempting to unmould.