Honeycomb (or Cinder Toffee)

 

I’m incredibly busy at the moment with various birthdays, events, baking requirements, not to mention work, so this is a brilliant and superfast way of making something that looks fairly epic. It’s also tons of fun – well for the few seconds where it foams up with the addition of bicarb. 

Ideally you’d make this with a sugar thermometer but I don’t have one so this method assumes that you don’t. It’s not that hard and there is a degree of error that the final product allows so that’s ok.  

Ingredients

165g caster sugar

165g Demerara sugar

60g golden syrup

15g butter (plus extra for greasing)

60ml (4 tbsp) water

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp bicarb of soda (have close by with a spoon in it ready to go) 

1.   Put everything, apart from the bicarb, in a saucepan and gently heat until everything is melted together.

2.   Then turn the heat up to keep it on a boil. It shouldn’t be escaping the pan but all you should see are bubbles. Put a timer on for 10 minutes.

3.   While that is going on grease the living hell out of a tray (20 x 20 square is a good size but it can be bigger – just not too big as the honeycomb will get too thin) with a decent side on it. When I say grease the hell I mean it. You want to see some actual butter left on the tray and not a thin film of grease. (Or use a silicon tray and ignore having to grease it).

4.   Once the 10 minutes are up put a teaspoon in the mixture, let excess drip off and put it in a cup of cold water. Leave for about 20-30 seconds. If, when you take the spoon out, the sugar mixture is hard to touch then it’s done. If it has some give then it needs a bit more time. It shouldn’t need more than 15 minutes so check every minute or so. (Who needs a sugar thermometer?)

5.   When the sugar is hard on the spoon put the bicarb in and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. At this stage the mixture with bubble up and looks fairly brilliant. Don’t mix too long and then pour it all into the tray.

6.   It will bubble away for a few minutes and after about 20-30 minutes will be cool enough to turn out and smash up.

N.B. Store somewhere dry. Damp kills it. Also don’t worry about it sticking together in a massive mass when you put it in a tin. It will be ok.

 

So much fun to smash up!