It was an episode of Masterchef Australia where guest chef Lauren Eldridge made Honeycomb with ice cream. The honeycomb looked so amazing with those big air pockets. I was so much inspired, that the very moment I wanted to make the same.
I have tried my hand on honeycomb before, which turns out good enough. But the big question was why and how the texture of the honeycomb Lauren had made was so much different than mine. After a couple of trials, and a lot of reading I have figured out some points to share with you. The appropriate title for this post should be “The perfect Honeycomb Crunch Recipe”
Making a honeycomb at home is one of the easiest recipes to follow, but making a great honeycomb is a method / a precise direction that we need to follow. Its quick, it’s easy and it’s so much fun.
This candy is actually the product of an acid-base reaction like a school volcano project. The sodium bicarbonate and the acid in the honey and Sugar cause your sugary mixture to bubble up and create all those little delicious nooks and crannies that give honeycomb its unique texture.
There are several dishes where we can serve “Honeycomb Crunch” as an addition to enhance the texture. Ice-cream, cakes, mousse, yoghurt are few examples. Chocolate dipped Honeycomb Crunch are delicious and kids love them. My personal favourite is a beautiful gold slice honeycomb with strong coffee. It’s too good, I have had this combination at a cafe in Switzerland long back. I still remember that flavour combination. You have to try it to know, how beautifully it works.
Sitaphal – Custard Apple Ice-cream
Eggless White Chocolate Mousse
The confection Honeycomb crunch is also called by many different names: hokey pokey, cinder toffee, sponge toffee, golden crunchers, fairy food candy, angel food candy, puff candy, sea foam, or sponge candy.
Let’s get the pointers now:
- Its hot bubbling sugar, so, first of all, keep the working area clutter free and keep the kids away. Please be careful and don’t get any burns in the process.
2. The recipe calls for only 4 ingredients and it’s very easy to follow. We will be pouring the sugar, honey and glucose all together in a pan and cook till we reach 150*C. It’s important to choose the right pan for the job. I suggest heavy-bottomed saucepan with a bigger capacity. The larger one, in capacity because the hot caramel may spill over the sides once you’ve whisked in the baking soda.
Saby Food Liquid Glucose, 250g
3. Once you’ve decided on your pan, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and measure all your ingredients. Have the baking soda and a whisk ready, because you need to add it as soon as the caramel has reached the right colour. Delay and your caramel will darken too much.
Generic Maverick Heavy Duty Kitchen Stainless Steel Cooking Oil Thermometer For Sugar Candy Frying 35cm Generic
4. If you have a sugar thermometer, superb, heat sugars to the hard crack stage, and the temperature and that’s 150*C. Most of us don’t so the easy way to test is with the cup of cold water.
Dip the end of the teaspoon in the syrup then into the cold water to set it. You might hear the sugar crack as it cools rapidly which indicates it’s hot enough. Or just bite the syrup and if you can crack it off the spoon so that there isn’t any left, then you have reached that stage.
I find that the boiling sugars very quickly goes from “not quite hot enough” to “burnt”, so move it off the heat or make the flame very low while you check.
5. Once the sugar and golden syrup are ready, adding the bicarbonate soda causes it to foam to about four times the original size like a rush of golden lava. Now as fast as you can, whisk the mix thoroughly. The soda and mixing create the air pockets that give the honeycomb effect. As you’re frantically stirring, move over to the parchment lined tin. When you think it’s sufficiently done, pour it out in a big, hot, airy dollop. This all happens in less than a minute as the reaction happens fast and you don’t want to ruin the bubbles by stirring too much as the sugar cools.
6. Take it off the heat when it’s ready and then quickly drop the teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda into the syrup.
7. Now leave it to cool for an hour or two and do the washing up. The syrup sticks hard to everything but easily cleans up when soaked.
Ingredients
415g caster sugar
150g glucose syrup
65g honey
70g water
18g bi-carb soda
Method:
Line a deep 20cm square tin with parchment paper. Place caster sugar, glucose syrup, honey and 70g water into a medium saucepan and place over low medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar then bring to the boil. Cook until mixture reaches 150*C. Remove from heat then carefully add bi-carb soda and whisk quickly to dissolve. Pour into prepared tray and set aside to cool for at least 1 hour. Once cool, use a serrated knife to trim the outside edges so that the inner structure is visible. Break into large chunks and set aside in an airtight container.
