honeycomb toffee

a very fun and easy recipe resulting in crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth pieces of honeycomb toffee topped with a thin, snappy layer of dark chocolate!

the first time I made honeycomb, I had very high hopes. I stood over the pot of boiling syrup, watching intensely for just the slightest bit of color.

I stood there for 20 minutes, not sure if the color was just in my head or actually real.

Then once I finally added the baking soda, the mixture foamed up immediately and started turning darker and darker in color. Part of me was bursting with excitement, while the other part was stressing out over pouring the mixture onto the baking sheet in time before it would deflate and lose all the holes that were key to the candy. Can you guess what happened?

Yep, I lost the holes (what a weird sentence to write). The disappointment didn't end there.

For the layer of chocolate, I needed milk chocolate, but only had Hershey's bars on hand. So I melted some of them and mixed in the rest unmelted to temper the chocolate. But once I poured it onto the honeycomb and spread it out, I knew I had made a mistake. The chocolate then resulted in a very unattractive and soft coating, not what I was going for at all.

The honeycomb was teeth-shattering hard and unattractive with so few holes it didn't even deserve the name honeycomb. The chocolate was soft and not shiny at all, a complete disappointment. Although it still had an interesting melt-in-your-mouth texture, it was a sad fail.

Then, a year later, I was asked to make it again.

this time around, I did some research and had a much better idea of what I was doing. The first time I had made it, I relied on the color and didn't use a candy thermometer. A bad mistake, especially for making it for the first time. I decided to add a 1/2 tablespoon of honey because it is called honeycomb and due to that, I reduced the sugar a little. I also decided to sift the baking soda so it would be incorporated easier and faster so I wouldn't have to scramble to pour the honeycomb onto a baking sheet. And as a final adjustment, I used 60% dark/bittersweet chocolate instead of Hershey's bars.

The result? A thin layer of crunchy but not teeth-shattering crunchy honeycomb toffee, with plenty of holes and a perfectly thin coating of dark chocolate that broke with a satisfying snap.

honeycomb toffee (also known as sponge toffee, cinder toffee, etc.) is a very sugary toffee with an interesting melt-in-your-mouth texture. It is named honeycomb after the many holes trapped inside. It is made by cooking a sugary syrup into hot caramel, and then adding baking soda once it's heated up to 300 degrees F to give it it's signature bubbles. The mixture foams up and turns a deep golden in color. You must then act fast and pour the mixture onto a baking sheet before the mixture deflates and loses the holes. Making candy may seem intimidating at first, but with a reliable candy thermometer, it's not very bad at all, and is impressive.

tips for making honeycomb toffee:

- sift the baking soda beforehand so it gets incorporated quicker

- measure the baking soda and vanilla beforehand

- use a reliable candy thermometer

-DO NOT walk away from the pot; it can go from done to burnt very quickly

-act fast when adding the baking soda so the mixture doesn't deflate and you lose all the holes

-temper the chocolate by melting most of the chocolate and then adding in the rest that is unmelted to result in a shiny, snappy coating of chocolate

this recipe is adapted from Joanne Chang's recipe called 'Christopher's Honeycomb' which can be found in her cookbook, Pastry Love. Pastry Love is an amazing cookbook that has clear and great instructions. I highly recommend it for bakers who are a bit more experienced. It includes recipes such as Japanese cotton cheesecake, double chocolate rye cookies, matcha cream puffs, butter mochi, and much more!

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honeycomb toffee

a very fun and easy recipe resulting in crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth pieces of honeycomb toffee topped with a thin, snappy layer of dark chocolate!

adapted from Joanne Chang | original recipe in her cookbook Pastry Love

makes about 25 pieces of honeycomb

ingredients:

a scant (a little less than) 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 ounces dark/bittersweet chocolate (I used 60%), chopped into chunks

instructions:

line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

whisk the sugar and water together in a heavy-bottomed pot. Whisk in the light corn syrup and honey, then place on the stove and heat at medium-high.

bring the mixture to a boil, and do not stir the mixture or shake the pot. This would cause the sugar to crystallize so you'd have to start over. While it's boiling, just watch and leave it do it's thing.

measure the baking soda and vanilla in separate bowls and have them ready nearby.

let the mixture boil for about 6 minutes when it will caramelize and color slightly. When you see some color, it is safe to swirl the pot around. When the syrup reaches 300 degrees F and is barely tan, turn off the heat.

quickly whisk in the baking soda and vanilla for only a few seconds until incorporated. The mixture will foam up and turn darker in color. Pour the mixture while it is still foamy onto the prepared baking sheet. Do not spread it out evenly; that will result in the honeycomb losing all of it's holes. Let the honeycomb cool and harden at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

place a little more than two-thirds of the dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl and microwave it on high, stirring every 15 seconds until it is almost fully melted. Immediately add the remaining one-third of the unmelted chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate is fully melted and smooth. This can take up to 15 minutes.

once the chocolate is fully melted, the chocolate should be just under body temperature and shouldn't be warm.

spread the melted chocolate on top of the honeycomb in a thin, even layer. Let the chocolate set and harden at room temperature for an hour.

using your hands or a mallet (warning: this will get a little messy), break the honeycomb into charmingly irregular sized pieces.

honeycomb toffee can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple months. Do not store in a humid area; this will result in the honeycomb becoming chewy/sticky.

notes:

I halved the recipe from Joanne Chang because the first time I made it where I made the full recipe, it made way too much.

I highly discourage making honeycomb in a humid environment; it can result in the honeycomb getting chewy and not being away to be stored for long.

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