Honeycomb Recipe - melissassouthernstylekitchen.com (2024)

FAQs

Why is my homemade honeycomb not crunchy? ›

Chewy honeycomb happens when the mixture hasn't been cooked for long enough. This is most common when you don't use a sugar thermometer. If you don't heat the mixture to 149°C the sugar won't achieve the brittleness required for that crumbly, crunchy texture.

Mix it enough for the bicarbonate of soda to incorporate and then stop! If your sugar syrup isn't hot enough, it will make your honeycomb very chewy. The best way to make sure your sugar is at the right temperature is to use a sugar thermometer.

White vinegar – one of the things that makes this candy unique is the light and airy texture of the toffee. We have the vinegar, in part, to thank for that! Vinegar reacts with the baking soda in the recipe to form little bubbles of carbon dioxide that give the honeycomb candy its airy, crisp texture.

Instead, if it is enjoyable as is, I would suggest just eating it as a toffee like candy. Otherwise, chalk it up to experience and watch the temperature more closely next time. I have a batch of gooey toffee now too. So im just either enjoying it as is or adding bit or chunks of it to my coffee or ice cream.

Choose the best honeycomb

It's all good unless the melted sugar is cooked for too long, when it will burn and the bitterness detracts from the acid-sweet pleasures expected. If you undercook it, it will not set properly.

The Science

The heat causes the bicarbonate of soda (NaHCO3) to break down and release the gas, carbon dioxide (CO2). The gas gets trapped within the sugar, this results in the bubbles in your honeycomb.

The light wax combs are 100% edible and filled to bursting with fresh, delicious honey that you can eat with a spoon. The wax combs are typically chewy and will ball up in your mouth similar to gum, some people spit out the comb but most will swallow it whole as it is completely safe to eat.

Honeycomb is nature's great delicacy. It is perfectly safe (and delicious) to consume both the honey and the waxy hexagonal containers of the comb. In fact, the added chewy texture of the comb is a bonus.

The best honeycomb is young and malleable. Beeswax has lots of volatile components when first secreted by bees, and these substances keep the wax soft. You've certainly noticed that new combs are bendy and tear easily, and only after time do they become hard and brittle.

If the candy tastes bitter or is burnt, it's very likely that your sugar burned in the process of making honeycomb candy. This is why it's so crucial to use a candy thermometer to make sure the candy is heated to the correct temperature. The sugar syrup can also burn if the stove temperature is too high.

What is honeycomb called in America? ›

Regionally it may be referred to as sponge candy, sea foam, fairy food candy, or old fashioned puff in the US, and in Britain, it is often called Cinder Toffee with variances of puff candy in Scotland, Yellowman in Northern Ireland and Sponge Toffee in Canada.

You can eat the whole honeycomb, including the honey and waxy cells surrounding it. The raw honey has a more textured consistency than filtered honey. In addition, the waxy cells can be chewed as a gum.

Honeycomb can last for years. It is simply pure honey inside beeswax cells, which means it generally doesn't expire. However, if honeycomb is stored incorrectly and exposed to moisture then it can potentially crystallise or go a little gooey.

The soda reacts with the acid to make bubbles, and the syrup foams. When the cooked syrup is poured out and begins to harden, many of the tiny bubbles are trapped before they can escape (another reason the baking soda is added at the end).

Store in a sealed container somewhere cool and dry – not the fridge. The honeycomb will keep for a week. Try dipping the pieces of honeycomb in melted chocolate - they will keep for longer, about 1 month.

It is perfectly safe (and delicious) to consume both the honey and the waxy hexagonal containers of the comb. In fact, the added chewy texture of the comb is a bonus. Honeycomb varies in taste (just like honey) depending on the environment and which flowers the bees predominantly pollinated to produce nectar.

It also has a soft yet crunchy texture, making it perfect for spreading on toast or crackers.

The mixture will continue bubbling in the tin, simply leave it and in about 1 hr-1 hr 30 mins the honeycomb will be hard and ready to crumble or snap into chunks.