Hello everyone! Today I am back with another Baking Basics post for you which today is going to be all about Honeycomb!!! Honeycomb is actually really fun and easy to make, and is great for adding crunch to sweet treats and cakes! Its aerated appearance also makes it perfect for decorating your bakes! In this post I am going to share with you the science behind making honeycomb (sorry, but I am a scientist after all…), what you can use the honeycomb for, as well as a basic recipe for making it!
What is Honeycomb – The Science
Honeycomb, also known as cinder toffee, sponge toffee or hokey pokey (Why? @New Zealand) is a sugary treat which is crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. It’s made from only three simple ingredients: sugar, golden syrup and bicarbonate of soda.
The sugar and golden syrup are gently heated to make a caramel before the bicarbonate of soda is added to cause a chemical reaction to turn the caramel into honeycomb. But what’s happening at the molecular level I hear you ask… (or not, then feel free to skip to the next section) 😉.
When the bicarbonate of soda, chemically known as sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3) comes into contact with the hot caramel mixture (well over 100°C at its boiling point), it undergoes a thermal decomposition reaction leading to the formation of carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is a gas and will cause the caramel to foam up, and if it is then rapidly transferred to a tin and cooled, the air bubbles will remain and create the desired honeycomb end result.
2 NaHCO3 (s) -> Na2CO3 (s) + H2O (g) + CO2 (g)
What to use the Honeycomb for?
You can use honeycomb in a large variety of baked goods and treats! For one, chopped into smaller pieces it is great for sprinkling over (e.g. vanilla) ice cream or for decorating cakes and cupcakes!
It’s also great for dipping into some melted chocolate (I like to cover about 1/3 of the sides in dark chocolate) to make little honeycomb-chocolate bites. You can also add broken up pieces of the honeycomb to some melted chocolate and then spread it out on a piece of baking parchment to harden, to make your own honeycomb chocolate bars. You could also try adding pieces of honeycomb to a rocky road, either to replace the biscuits or just as an extra addition! Make sure you check out my Easy Rocky Road recipe here!
I also recently made this Honeycomb Cake with Apricot and Mascarpone Cream, where I added honeycomb to the cake sponge mix, added it in between the sandwiched layers of cake, and also used it for decoration! It was a real treat and I definitely recommend you give it a try!
More Baking Basic Posts
This post on how to make honeycomb is already the 14th post in this series! I cannot believe that! Hopefully this means everyone’s baking skills are coming along nicely! Make sure to check out some of the other posts if you would like to brush up some more on your baking skills and knowledge!
- #1 How To Make Shortcrust Pastry
- #2 How To Master Chocolate (Melting, Tempering, Decorating)
- #3 How To Make Puff Pastry
- #4 How To Make a Sourdough Starter
- #5 How To Make Buttercream (Normal, Dairy-free, Vegan)
- #6 How To Make Hot Water Crust Pastry
- #7 How To Make Crème Chantilly | Chantilly (Sweetened) Cream
- #8 How To Make Crème Pâtissière | French Pastry Cream
- #9 How To Make Lemon Curd
- #10 How To Make Crème Anglaise (Vanilla Custard)
- #11 The 5 Cake Making Methods – Explained
- #12 How to Make Filo Pastry
- #13 How to Make Royal Icing | Perfect for Biscuit Decorating
- #14 How to Make Honeycomb (Cinder Toffee, Hokey Pokey)
How to make Honeycomb | Baking Basics #14
Basic Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE HONEYCOMB
- 200g caster sugar
- 4 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- 20x25cm (roughly) baking tin, lined with baking paper
- Deep saucepan
- Wooden spoon
Method:
- Lightly grease a 20×25 cm baking tin and then line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper. Set aside until needed.
- Put the caster sugar and golden syrup into a deep saucepan and set over a low heat. Gently warm and stir until all of the sugar crystals have fully dissolved.
- Turn up the heat and bring to a simmer, stirring continuously. Simmer until the caramel reaches a golden/amber colour – this won’t take long so keep you eye on it to avoid it burning!
- Remove the pan from the heat and add in the bicarbonate of soda in one go, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. The mixture will foam up and become aerated, which is why it’s important to use a deep pot.
- Pour the foaming honeycomb mix into the prepared tin and level the surface with spoon. Be EXTREMELY CAREFUL when handling the honeycomb as it gets very hot. Also, make sure not to touch the sides of the baking tin either, as they will also become very warm.
- Leave the honeycomb for about 2-3 hours until cooled completely. Remove from the tin, peel away the baking paper and use a sharp knife to break it into pieces.
- You can then eat the honeycomb as is, or use it in one of the many ways listed above!
