Have you heard of honeycomb?
It resembles a honeycomb because of its structure, but by definition it has nothing to do with honey. It’s crunchy and the ultimate addition to your dessert, but also makes a great snack straight from the hand. Have you ever heard of honeycomb?
We’ve often seen it featured on MasterChef Australia; it originally comes from New Zealand. Unfortunately, you don’t see it on menus here very often yet. The bubbly structure of honeycomb—pronounced: honniekoom—comes from the addition of sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda. This powder causes a chemical reaction, creating air bubbles in the caramel. Fancy making it yourself? Super simple! Use this recipe and, combined with our tips, nothing can go wrong.
Tips ‘n tricks
Melt the sugar and golden syrup in a deep, large pan over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Keep stirring until the caramel turns a deep amber colour. The golden syrup prevents the sugar from crystallising. When you add the baking soda to the mixture, the substance becomes more than three times as large. So your pan really does need to be big enough.
Make sure you have a flat baking tray or oven dish ready to pour the mixture into. Be careful not to burn yourself while doing so—the temperature of caramel can rise to around 170°C. Let the honeycomb cool and harden for at least an hour. Once this has happened, you can easily break it into pieces. Store it for about a week. If you dip it in chocolate, it will keep for about a month.
Recipes
What can’t you use honeycomb for? Dip it in chocolate and eat it straight from the hand or with coffee. For example, make your own creamy ice cream (without a machine). Have something to celebrate, or simply feel like spending a day in the kitchen? Then make this ultimate peanut butter-honeycomb pie, or make this dessert with three amazing ingredients: honeycomb, ricotta and hazelnut.
