Honeycomb is a toffee prepared with a rising agent to give the candy a light and airy texture. Honeycomb can be eaten plain on its own. It’s also delicious coated in chocolate or used as decoration on other baked goods. Whatever the reason for making honeycomb, its a delicious treat that you can whip up quickly and will be sure to impress.
Preparation notes
Its important to fully line the baking tray before starting to make the honeycomb. Once you start heating up the sugar, the process requires a fair bit of attention. This is mostly to ensure the honeycomb is heating evenly and that the temperature doesn’t get too high. The recipe calls for removing the mixture when it reaches 300 degrees Fahrenheit but its fine if its taken off a few degrees shy of 300. I’ve found that the toffee doesn’t taste as good if it goes above 300 but to each their own.
For the ingredients, I used golden syrup because I had some available from when I made ginger cookies. Making your own golden syrup is similar to making toffee but a little bit more hands off. If you’re planning on making a bunch of British baked goods, having golden syrup on hand isn’t a bad idea. But substituting corn syrup or honey for golden syrup will yield equally delicious results.
Cooking notes
When making the honeycomb, its important to not stir the mixture. The reasoning is that the spoon or spatula can cause crystallization of the sugar. However, to ensure even heating of the mixture during cooking, swirling of the sauce pan is allowed/encouraged. This can be done every couple of minutes when bringing the mixture up to temperature. Its important to keep a close eye on the mixture as it gets close to temperature. I’ve found that it goes from 290F to 310F super fast so be ready to take the pan off the heat. Once the pan is off the heat, add in the baking soda and whisk continuously until all of the baking soda is incorporated into the toffee. The mixture will bubble and expand quite a bit so use a bigger pan than you think is necessary.
The photo above was taken just after the baking soda was added. The mixture continued to expand to the point where it would have overflowed the pan. So avoid having to clean up a sticky mess and use a big pan to cook the honeycomb and have your tray lined and ready. Once the honeycomb is in the tray, let it cool at room temperature for at least an hour. At this point, you can break it up using a sharp knife and eat it as is. You can also coat the honeycomb pieces in chocolate and sprinkle with sea salt or crushed nuts. Enjoy!
Honeycomb Toffee
Equipment
- 1 Candy Thermometer
- 1 9×13 pan
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 350 grams granulated sugar
- 160 grams golden syrup doesn't need to be exact, can use corn syrup or honey as well
- 120 ml water
- 3 grams salt
- 14 grams baking soda
Instructions
- Line a 9×13 pan, both bottom and sides, with parchment paper and set aside until ready to use
- Combine the sugar, golden syrup, water and salt in a large sauce pan, the mixture will expand a lot so use a pan or pot with plenty of extra space.
- Gently stir the mixture to get all of the sugar wet and then heat on medium heat, swirling the pot to ensure all of the sugar dissolves.
- When the mixture begins to boil, clip the candy thermometer to the side of the pan.
- Heat the mixture to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, swirling the pan to ensure the mixture is heating evenly. Have a whisk ready for the next step.
- Once the mixture reaches 300 degrees Fahrenheit, remove from heat and whisk in the baking soda, taking care to ensure the entire mixture gets mixed with the baking soda.
- Once the mixture has fully expanded, pour into the prepared 9×13 pan and leave to set at room temperature for at least one hour.
- Once the mixture has set, remove from the pan and using a knife, break the mixture into pieces.
- The honeycomb can be eaten as is and can be stored for up to a week in an airtight contrainer. Use wax paper when storing the pieces since they get stickier the more they're exposed to air.
- If desired, the honeycomb pieces can be dipped or coated in chocolate.
