Adventures in making honeycomb

As I mentioned here, I have quite the fear when it comes to cooking with melted sugar. Perhaps it is because my style of cooking is rather ‘bit of this, bit of that’, and sugar generally requires more precision.

Or perhaps it is because that once heat is applied, it doesn't take long until the little innocent sugar granules turn into a pot of molten lava. Which is scary in itself for this rather clumsy gal.

But Mr BBB loves honeycomb. And one afternoon I was feeling particularly adventurous, so I decided to make my own. Or at least try to.

Sugar + water + honey + golden syrup. Finished with the magic bubble ingredient (aka bicarb soda).

Couldn't be that hard right?!

Wrong.

Two attempts in – and all I had to show for my efforts was burnt fingers (and the story of Goldilocks running around in my head).

For my first batch of honeycomb was too soft…

And my second batch was too hard bendy…

Something just wasn’t right.

Frustrated, both batches went into the bin. But the memory of my honeycomb failure lingered and I decided to give it another go.

This time I ignored the instructions as to the length of time the sugar should simmer for. I pulled out a meat thermometer (hey – I don't have a candy thermometer so I improvised) and let the sugar cook until it had reached 154C. Turns out this took waaay longer than the 7 minutes called for in the recipe.

With dubious anticipation, I added the bicarb, and watched as the sugar turned into something resembling honeycomb.

I spread the mix onto a tray, and allowed it to cool.

Then it was the moment of truth.

Was it set? Would it break as honeycomb should do or just bend like my previous attempts?

Success!

Suddenly I had a full tray of crunchy, aerated honeycomb! Made even better with the addition of melted dark chocolate.

Ahhhh lovely sweet honeycomb!

Just like a whole plate of homemade violet crumble. Firm on the outside, and soft / aerated in the middle.

Moral of the story – use a thermometer to get the sugar temperature just right. This could take a lot longer than the cooking time mentioned in the recipe.

With this new found sugar skill, I’m already thinking of what I can make next. Honeycomb ice-cream perhaps???

You can find the recipe I used here.

What about you? Have you ever made your own honeycomb?