Honeycomb Candy Aka Hokey Pokey Or Sponge Candy Recipes

HONEYCOMB CANDY - AKA HOKEY-POKEY OR SPONGE CANDY

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, honey, and water, and using a wooden spoon, stir constantly over low heat until the sugar is fully dissolved.
• Put candy thermometer into the mixture to monitor temperature, increase the heat and boil mixture to exactly 270 degrees F (132C).
• Reduce heat to as low as possible and maintain the temperature 270F for exactly 15 minutes.
• It is very important that the temperature of the mixture does not fluctuate; if the temperature begins to rise, remove the pan from heat occasionally to reduce the heat.
• After the temperature has been maintained for 15 minutes, remove the pan from heat, take out the thermometer, and allow the bubbles to subside.
• Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in finely sifted baking soda.
• Immediately and quickly pour the mixture into a large oiled baking dish.
• (Please note, important: the pouring step requires strength and you'll be handling extremely hot liquids; if you're not strong and agile enough you might want to leave that step to a strong and able assistant.) When candy has completely cooled, remove from pan and break into pieces.
• Many lovers of honeycomb candy like to coat the pieces in chocolate- you can dunk the pieces into melted chocolate if you like.

HONEYCOMB TOFFEE

Steps:

• Line a baking dish with parchment paper, measure out baking soda in a small bowl, and have a heat-proof spatula ready before starting.
• Whisk sugar, corn syrup, honey, and water together in a saucepan with a candy thermometer attached. Heat over medium heat until mixture is thinner but still cloudy. Let bubble until mixture is clear and thermometer registers 300 degrees F (149 degrees C).
• Remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda until just incorporated. Switch to a spatula and very carefully pour into the lined dish. Do not spread it out with your spatula or compress mixture at all, or the bubbles will deflate. Let cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
• Remove candy from the pan by lifting out the parchment paper. Rap against the counter and use your fingers to break it into individual pieces.

HONEYCOMB TOFFEE RECIPE

Steps:

• Line a 9 inch square pan with parchment paper (sides and bottom). Set aside until needed.
• Keep a spatula and a whisk ready, as you will need them towards the end of the cook time.
• Place the sugar, golden syrup / corn syrup, water, and salt in a large saucepan (this mixture will expand a lot, so use a large pot with enough space).
• Gently stir to saturate the sugar with the water.
• Heat over medium high heat, while swirling the pot frequently to ensure the sugar is dissolved.
• Brush the sides of the pot with a pastry brush dipped in cold water to dissolve the sugar crystals on the side of the pot. Do NOT stir the sugar syrup.
• When the sugar syrup comes to a boil and all the sugar has dissolved, clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot.
• Heat the sugar mixture until it reaches 300°F. Swirl the pot as you heat the sugar to make sure the syrup is evenly heating (check several spots in the syrup with the candy thermometer to make sure it's evenly heating).
• Get the prepared pan, whisk, and spatula ready when the sugar syrup is close to 300°F. You can use an oven mitt for whisking the sugar base in the following steps, if you like.
• When the sugar syrup reaches 300°F, remove the pot from the heat and immediately add all of the baking soda.
• Whisk the baking soda well into the sugar syrup. Make sure to reach all the corners of the pot. The sugar syrup will expand into a foamy honeycomb mixture.
• As soon as the baking soda is thoroughly mixed in and the mixture has expanded, scrape the honeycomb mixture into the prepared pan.
• Allow the mixture to harden for a few hours.
• Once the candy is hardened, remove it from the pan and peel off the parchment paper. Place it on a cutting board.
• Use the tip of a sharp knife to break the honeycomb into pieces. These will be uneven pieces.
• While the sugar syrup is cooking, bloom the gelatin in the water in a small microwave-safe bowl. Let it bloom for 10 minutes.
• Microwave the gelatin for just a few seconds to dissolve the gelatin. Do NOT let it boil.
• Add the dissolved warm gelatin mixture into the sugar syrup, followed by the baking soda. Whisk vigorously, and then transfer the mix into the prepared pan (as per instructions above).
• Temper the chocolate using this guide.
• Dip the honeycomb toffee in tempered chocolate (you can dip them either fully or partially). Alternatively, you can brush the chocolate on the toffees with a clean, dry pastry brush.
• Place them on a parchment paper lined tray. Sprinkle salt on top before the chocolate sets.
• Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature (do not put them in the fridge).
• Uncoated honeycomb toffee - Store these honeycomb pieces in an air-tight container at room temperature for about 1 week (or 2 weeks if it's not humid). Place parchment paper or wax paper between layers of the honeycomb to prevent them from sticking to each other.
• Chocolate coated honeycomb toffee - These can be stored at room temp for much longer (even up to a month) in an air-tight container.
• Do NOT store these in the fridge or freezer.

HONEYCOMB CANDY (HOKEY POKEY) - NIGELLA LAWSON

Steps:

• Stir sugar and syrup together in a cold pan. Put over medium-high heat; from this point, do NOT stir, but only swirl the pan. Cook until golden and thick, and bubbles are beginning to mount.
• Turn off heat and add baking soda. Whisk vigorously. Pour onto a silicone liner (Silpat) and let stand 15 minutes. Smash into large pieces.

HONEYCOMB CANDY

Steps:

• Line an 8x8 square casserole dish with non stick foil and set aside.
• In a heavy bottom saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar and corn syrup.
• Cook over medium heat stirring until the sugar dissolves.
• Continue cooking without stirring until digital candy thermometer reads 300*F (hard crack stage)
• Remove from heat.
• QUICKLY stir in baking soda - mixture will foam and double in size.
• Pour mixture into prepared casserole dish. DO NOT SCRAPE MIXTURE OUT. Just pour it.
• DO NOT BUMP, SHAKE, STIR, or MOVE pan. You want it to keep all those air bubbles in the mixture undisturbed as it cools.
• After 2 hours, once mixture has naturally cooled to room temperature, pull hard candy slab out of pan.
• Place slab on a cutting board and with a sharp knife, carefully start to crack the candy into chunks. Generally chunks should be around 1" pieces.
• Eat candy, storing extras or dip in chocolate.
• To dip candy, melt chocolate according to package directions.
• Place a chunk of candy into chocolate, submerge and lift with a fork. Tap excess chocolate off candy and place on wax paper to dry.
• Once cooled, enjoy.