A while ago one of our lovely students came up with the idea of creating a Kitchen Witch incense. We decided it would be a great idea for a competition and Rachel gathered a pile of her fabulous books together for the prize.
All the entrants were amazing, so I’ve put them into a blog to share them with you all.
Thank you to everybody who participated in the competition...
RECIPE 1
1/4 sandalwood, 1/4 jasmine, 1/4 Rose and 1/4 ylang ylang
RECIPE 2
1 tablespoon of resin - Frankincense
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
Half teaspoon of cloves or 1-2 whole cloves crushed.
1-2 Cardamon pods lightly crushed and a teaspoon of rosemary just to add a bit of sweetness to it.
RECIPE 3
7 g each of frankincense and ground cinnamon; 14 g sandalwood; 28 g each of lavender and rosemary.
RECIPE 4
1 teaspoon Sprouts
1 teaspoon Cabbage
2 teaspoon Crushed Cloves
2 teaspoon Oregano
1 Bay Leaf
3 teaspoon Mint
3 teaspoons Dragons Blood
RECIPE 5
Equal parts of Red Clover for success, Pink scented rose for friendship, Rosemary for improving memory, Lemon balm for happiness.
RECIPE 6
Home and Hearth Incense
3 parts frankincense resin (protection, love, luck, purification)
1 part dried lavender flowers (happiness, devotion, healing, sleep, love, peace, longevity, handfastings)
1 part dried chamomile flowers (love, money, patience, calmness, patience, purification, wealth)
1 part dried rose petals (love, abundance, friendship, handfastings, protection, peace, prosperity)
3 drops ylang-ylang essential oil (love, abundance, peace, fortune, prosperity)
3 drops lavender essential oil (happiness, devotion, healing, sleep, love, peace, longevity, handfastings)
Blend together and burn as desired.
RECIPE 7
Myrrh resin (it is a bit sweeter)
1 part juniper berries
1 part cornflower petals
1 part nutmeg
1 part cinnamon
2 part marshmallow
This blend to me is warmth, comfort and protection for my home and family. That's what my personal journey of being a kitchen witch is all about.
This loose incense is to be burned with charcoal :- for KW at this time of year :- sage for protection, mugwort to enhance connection, marigold for positivity, cinnamon for prosperity & healing, bay for inner magick and chocolate to make it especially KW authentic.
RECIPE 8
Pound Cake Incense (hopefully!)
My first thought when this challenge was announced was that I wanted to make incense that smelled like cake. We're definitely a cake-centered group (and why shouldn't we be?), plus it has all the other lovely associations of being warm and comforting and sweet and fun which to me exemplifies the spirit of KW. So with those intentions stated, hopefully this smells like pound cake to someone else!
Step 1 - Cake base:
- 1/4 tsp ground benzoin resin
- 1/4 tsp ground honey amber resin
- 1 tbsp "unscented incense powder"*
*I hope you know what this is, I wish I could be more specific but my best guess is that it is generic makko or joss powder - looks to be fluffy wood chip filler used in making cone incense. I thought it would act as an absorbent layer for the next ingredients.
Step 2 - Oils: - 10 drops sweet almond oil (carrier oil) - 6 drops vanilla essential oil** - 5 drops lemon essential oil** - 2 drops fennel essential oil
** These could likely be substituted for dried lemon peel and vanilla extract, but I opted for essential oils because that's what I had on hand.
Method:
Spread 1 tsp of your resin powder cake base on your sand layer and evenly drip the oils on top. Light your candle and hopefully smell cake!
My disclaimer: I had no idea what I was doing so hopefully my steps and quantities make sense. I can't set anything on fire in my apartment, so instead of burning this blend on a charcoal disc, I used a suggestion from Rachel to put some sand in the top of my essential oil burner and then sprinkled the loose blend on top of that. You might not have to grind everything together like I did if you aren't going to warm it indirectly with a tea light; I thought it might help warm through faster if it was all a powder. This seems to be a good cake base (with steps 1 and 2 combined) and I'm going to try a version with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger added in step 2 because that sounds pretty tasty too. I tried adding ground cacao nibs for a chocolate cake, but found they didn't quite do the trick - would be interested if anyone else is able to get a chocolate cake variant to work!
RECIPE 9
For Love and caring, support that we get from kitchen witch family -
Applewood Chips,
Elderberries (crushed up a bit),
Rose petals,
Jasmine flowers,
Peony buds,
Frankincense resin,
few drops of jasmine,
Roseann frankincense oil.
RECIPE 10
I used my little measure spoon to be one part and made a bulk lot!
3 part Frankincense - cleansing.
3 part Dragons Blood - amplifier.
3 part orange peel - uplifting, joy.
3 part lemon peel - harmony, happiness.
3 part rowan berries - protection.
3 star anise - luck .
3 part cinnamon - power.
3 cloves - abundance.
3 drops pine oil
3 drops orange oil
Smells a bit Yule like.
Recipe 11
Measurements are approximate since I often go with my instinct.
1 tsp edible glitter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
A pinch or two of ground cloves
1/4 tsp Cardamom
1/4 tsp ginger
Gold candy stars (like for cake decorating)
Small bits of dried orange peel
1 tsp sugar (or sugar substitute if necessary).
Intentions of love , prosperity and abundance. I use it to sprinkle on lattes or cappuccinos. I recently put a dash in a batch of wild plum jam I made for friends and loved ones. Also perfect sprinkled on cakes and cookies.
image from unsplash