Honeycomb / Cinder Toffee

The recipe, step by step

This super simple honeycomb / cinder toffee recipe only uses 3 ingredients. It has been a British favourite for decades and most famously known in the form of a chocolate bar called Crunchie, which I used to love as a kid.

It’s such a good recipe to master and can be used in a variety of ways to elevate cakes and ice creams or to simply make your own crunchies. Check out my chocolate fudge cake recipe, where I used it to decorate the top and bottom edge of the cake.

You might also know it as: honeycomb candy, sponge toffee, fairy food candy, puff candy, seafoam, sponge toffee or hokey pokey, depending on where you’re from. It has so many names, but the recipes are almost all the same. For my recipe all you are going to need is these few ingredients: sugar, honey, water and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). I prefer to use honey as different honeys can give different flavours to the finished toffee, but most recipes use an inverted sugar, such as corn syrup, glucose, molasses or golden syrup. So, if you don’t have honey, any of these will happily replace it! The structure of honeycomb toffee comes from when the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and acid react to form carbon dioxide, which gets trapped as the sugar cools and hardens, creating a hard sponge-like texture, but the toffee remains light. Once cooled they can be broken up and dipped into melted chocolate, for a special treat, which are also perfect for gifting!

PREPARATION

Honeycomb has a reputation for being tricky to make, but it is really quite simple and is all down to the preparation. Overall, it only takes about 10-12 minutes to make, but having the correct equipment and everything prepared in advance is key. One of the most important items to have is a tall saucepan. When the bicarbonate of soda is added to the sugary syrup, the mixture will bubble up and you will see why the tall pan is so important. You will also need a whisk, a heat resistant spatula and a sugar thermometer will make your life a lot easier, but if you don’t have one you can still give it a go!

If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and the other readers. And don’t forget to take a picture and tag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram. I love seeing what you come up with! 🙂

RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS

• EASE: easy, using just 3 ingredients, remember preparation is key.
• FREE FROM: this recipe is gluten and dairy-free.
• TASTE & TEXTURE: a deliciously sweet, crunchie toffee.
• SERVING: great on its own or coated in chocolate.
• QUANTITY: 300g or 50 pieces (one 2cm square weighs around 6g)
• TIME: 15 minutes, plus 1 hour cooling.

INGREDIENTS

For this recipe, all you need are these ingredients:

• Sugar – is key to getting the structure.

• Honey / corn syrup / Golden syrup – are all a form of inverted sugar that helps prevent crystallisation.

• Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) – is a raising agent that reacts with the sugar and heat, to give us air pockets, throughout the toffee.

WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?

• Different flavoured honeys – I used rapeseed honey but there are so many to choose from; sunflower, blossom, wildflower and heather to name a few.

• Salt – for that additional saltiness, sprinkle the toffee once it is in the baking pan with a little salt.

NUTRITION

STORAGE AND FREEZING

It is best to store the honeycomb toffee, in an airtight container, making sure to separate the pieces with parchment paper between. Depending on how well the container seals, will determine how long the honeycomb will last. The more they are exposed to air, the stickier and softer they will become. If you are only storing a small amount, I recommend using a glass jar and they should last up to 2 months.

Do not place them in the fridge or freezer.

TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

Here is some kitchen equipment that I use and recommend for this recipe.

• Tefal Emotion 2.5L Saucepan, 20 cm Stainless Steel with Even Heat Diffusion

This heavy based saucepan is great for boiling liquids that you need to heat with an even distribution, as it allows you more accurate control.

• Silicone spatula – I recommend these sturdy silicone spatulas because they are incredibly useful for baking and everyday cooking. Their firm handles make them excellent for scraping mixtures from bowls, dishes and frying pans, while the raised centre of the larger spatula gives it extra strength. You can find them and more of my favourite baking equipment in my Amazon Cake Making collection.

• Thermometer – This thermometer helps me achieve perfect results when making jam, marshmallows, caramel and Swiss meringue buttercream.

• Baking Tray, 45 x 30 x 2 cm

This tray is ideal for smaller bakes. sometimes I don’t always want to use my main baking tray that came with my oven as it is so big. This one is just the right size and I can use the silicone baking mat on it.

RECIPE TIPS

Use a tall heavy based saucepan – once you add the bicarbonate of soda, it will expand significantly.

Preparation – make sure to prepare before you start. Have your lined baking pan ready and the bicarbonate of soda premeasured, along with a whisk and heat proof spatula.

Stay vigilant when making the honeycomb – don’t leave the pan of sugar syrup unattended and keep that heat on medium, too hot and it will catch, and you will end up with bitter caramel.

Temperature – allow the sugar syrup to reach the required temperature of 149°C known as hard crack. Taking the syrup off the heat too soon is a common mistake, causing the honeycomb to be sticky.

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