Chocolate-topped honeycomb
Chocolate-topped honeycomb
mmmmm…. Honeycomb! I had a simply insatiable craving for honeycomb and as I had not used my new candy thermometer yet, I put two and two together and *BAM!* - Honeycomb delight! Deliciously addictive too! You just want to keep crunching more honeycomb goodness!
Try to use good quality honey when you make your honeycomb, as the flavour of your honeycomb is not surprisingly, highly-influenced by the honey you use. Home-made honeycomb definitely has a better ‘honey flavour’ than certain commercially bought varieties. On the whole, honeycomb is really easy to make! And actually looks just like the honeycomb you buy from the store! Although take care when handling the very high temperatures, because it can definitely cause a nasty burn if you aren’t careful
Use a water bath to melt your chocolate and take care not to overheat your chocolate, as this will cause fat blooms (the white spots) to form on the chocolate, and while they are not harmful, they just look bad.
Chocolate-topped honeycomb
Ingredients: 2 cups caster sugar, 2/3 cup honey, 120g unsalted butter, 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), 300g dark chocolate melted
Steps: Place the sugar, honey and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Place a candy or sugar thermometer in the saucepan (taking care that the bottom of the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the saucepan) and simmer for 7-8 minutes or until the mixture reaches 150 degrees Celsius.
Take off the heat and remove the thermometer. Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir through well until the mixture is golden and foamy*. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 28 x 39cm baking tin and set aside for 30minuntes or until hard. Spread with melted chocolate then set aside for a further 1 hour or until the chocolate has set. Break the honeycomb into pieces and serve!
Tip! *It is essential that you mix the bicarbonate of soda through well as this is what gives honeycomb its characteristic bubbly, light texture. Failure to mix it through well, results in toffee brittle like pieces- which while delicious all the same, are much harder and not honeycomb-like at all.
Serves 8-10
