How to make honeycomb

A crunchy fresh honeycomb that's perfect with Hokey Pokey ice cream, with coffee or on its own.

Who doesn't love a good honeycomb, or Hokey Pokey as they say in New Zealand. I recently made my own Hokey Pokey ice cream and this easy honeycomb recipe is a key ingredient. Crunchy, sweet and surprisingly easy to make.

They key with this is to prepare all you ingredients in advance and remember to work quickly.

Line a baking tray or pan with baking paper. Measure out your bicarbonate of soda and give in a stir to remove any lumps. Put both close by the stove where you are making the honeycomb, with the tray on a heatproof surface.

Add your sugar and golden syrup to a LARGE pan and stir over a low heat until sugar dissolves, about 5 – 10 mins. Turn heat up-to medium heat and cook, stiring regularly until a beautiful deep golden colour. In theory you can use a candy thermometer and get it up-to 310°F (150°C). In practice when I tried to do this I burnt the sugar, so I think going by eye and colour is fine.

When the sugar mix reaches the right temp, take it off the heat and quickly add and stir in the bicarbonate of soda. The mix will puff up quickly. Try to make sure the bicarb is mixed through quickly, then immediately pour into the pre-lined baking tray.

Hot tip: Add any scrapings from the pot to the side, not in the middle or you will deflate your honeycomb. Leave until completely cool, about an hour or more.

Once cool careful peel off the the baking paper. Flip over and use the back of a heavy knife to tap the honeycomb until it cracks through. Store in a lined airtight container until needed. The honeycomb with slowly go sticky as it reacts with the moisture in the air over a few days, but it will still taste great.

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5 from 3 votes

Honeycomb

A crunch fresh honeycomb that's perfect with Hokey Pokey ice cream or on its own

Prep Time30 mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Australian, New Zealand

Keyword: Hokey Pokey, honeycomb

Ingredients

• Nearly 1 cup (200gms) caster sugar
• 5 tablespoons golden syrup
• 2 & ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda *this is NOT the same as baking soda, you can not substitute

Instructions

• Prepare all ingredients and line a heatproof dish with baking paper
• Add sugar and golden syrup to a large saucepan
• Heat on a low heat until sugar dissolves, stiring frequently
• Turn head up-to medium and cook until mix is a lovely deep amber colour
• *you can use a candy thermometer to try to get the mix to 310°F (150°C) but you can do it by look
• Working quickly add your bicarb to the hot sugar and stir quickly. You want to evenly distribute the bicarb without knocking out the air. Turn onto a pre-lined tray immediately
• Leave for at least a hour to cool
• Peel off baking paper. Turn over and tap with the back of a heavy knife to break up.
• Store in a lined air tight container until needed

Notes

Honeycomb will react with air and disintegrate over time.  Best to make this the day of use.  It will still taste good but will go sticky and deflate the longer it is stored.