Name: Best Ever Honeycomb
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 175 g Caster Sugar (Cane sugar if available); 4 tbsp Golden Syrup; 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda/Baking Soda

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Best Ever Honeycomb AKA Cinder Toffee, Hokey Pokey, Sponge Candy & Crunchie. A foolproof recipe with step by step instructions to help you make the crunchiest homemade honeycomb.

Halloween and Bonfire Night are fast approaching so I thought I’d share my Kitchen Shed Tips to help you make the best and crunchiest honeycomb … although getting here wasn’t as straightforward as I’d hoped.

This foolproof recipe for Best Ever Honeycomb was developed during my attempts to make wedding favours for a family wedding. Four hundred pieces of chocolate covered crunchy honeycomb were required.

Chocolate covered hokey pokey in a dish.

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Naively I thought it was simply a matter of a quick practice run and all would be good to go – how wrong I was !

It’s fair to say I had a few confectionery crises as initial attempts were too sticky and then too hard and I imagined queues of wedding guests outside the dentist’s surgery.

Best Ever Honeycomb - Perfect for Bonfire Night or Halloween! Step by step instructions with Kitchen Shed Tips to help you make the best & crunchiest honeycomb. This honeycomb will keep for months stored in an airtight container. AKA Cinder Toffee, Hokey Pokey, Sponge Candy, Puff Candy & Crunchie.

The feedback on the wedding day made all the last minute honeycomb panic worthwhile. Enjoyed by kids and adults alike, Best Ever Honeycomb was a real winner.

It was lovely to hear guests reminiscing and sharing their childhood memories of Woolworth’s chocolate honeycomb. Honeycomb turned out to be my Dad’s favourite childhood sweet.

Broken pieces of cinder toffee on baking parchment.

Homemade Honeycomb FAQs

If you’re making honeycomb for the first time or you have any questions, please take a read through my FAQs for extra tips and handy information.

What Is Honeycomb ?

Honeycomb, also referred to as cinder toffee, Hokey Pokey, Sponge Candy and Sea Foam is a light, airy sweet made from a sugar syrup and bicarbonate of soda / baking soda. The honeycomb structure is caused by the bicarbonate of soda reacting with the hot sugar syrup and creating pockets of air.

It has a delicious sweet, toffee flavour and is often covered with chocolate.

What Do I Need To Make Honeycomb ?

The most important thing when making honeycomb is to have everything ready before you start.

Equipment

A clean, medium sized heavy based saucepan. You need plenty of room for the toffee to expand when you add the bicarbonate of soda.

A sugar or jam thermometer is essential although I now like to use a Thermapen as you get a quick and accurate digital reading. If you want your honeycomb to be perfect and not soft, not teeth breakingly hard or bitter, you really do need to use an accurate thermometer.

A cup of water and a pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals forming in your pan.

A shallow baking tray lined with baking parchment.

Hot honeycomb being poured onto a lined baking tray.

Ingredients

Sugar – Cane sugar is easier to work with and the addition of golden syrup helps to prevent crystals forming.

I like to use Tate & Lyle caster sugar, readily available here in the UK, as it’s a fine pure cane sugar which dissolves quickly.

Golden syrup – golden syrup is an inverted sugar syrup which helps prevent crystallisation. I use Lyle’s Golden Syrup, which although it is a UK product, can now be ordered via Amazon in the US and most of the other Amazon stores.

Glucose syrup can also be used as it has a similar effect but doesn’t give the same caramel like flavour as golden syrup.

Close up photo of shards of cinder toffee.

How To Make Best Ever Honeycomb

Best Ever Honeycomb takes about 10 minutes to make.

Preparation is key so make sure you have your ingredients and equipment ready. Check the recipe card first.

Sugar crystals are your enemy, follow these steps and you’ll have nothing to worry about.

Add the ingredients to a medium sized heavy based saucepan and attach the sugar thermometer to the side of the pan. Place on a low heat and stir gently until the sugar has dissolved.

To test if the sugar is completely dissolved scoop out a small amount of the syrup with a spoon. You should not be able to see any sugars crystals in the liquid.

Now you can turn up the heat to medium AND DO NOT STIR or your syrup will crystallise. I find it useful to have a cup of water and pastry brush so I can brush the sides of my pan to prevent sugar crystals forming.

I like to heat the syrup to around 150C as I prefer a brittle toffee and a caramel flavour. If you stop at a lower temperature your honeycomb will be softer.

BE CAREFUL when you take the pan off the heat, the pan and contents will be very hot.

Now it’s time for the magic – add the bicarbonate of soda and gently whisk until the bicarb has disappeared.

It’s important to cool the honeycomb mixture down as quickly as you can – this helps prevent those rogue sugar crystals forming – so pouring into a shallow baking tray lined with baking paper does the job nicely.

Once it has set – it’s time for the best bit, breaking and eating!

Or store in an airtight container.

AND LASTLY…

For an easy clean – immediately fill your empty pan with hot soapy water and leave for a few minutes before washing.

Why Is My Homemade Honeycomb Chewy ?

The syrup is taken off the heat too soon, it’s a common mistake and one I made!

Underheating the sugar makes the honeycomb sticky so it won’t set correctly.

Keep your eye on the sugar thermometer and make sure the temperature reaches at least 146 degrees C or 295 degrees F.

This is known as the hard crack stage which is 146 to 155 degrees C or 295 to 310 degrees F.

Why Does My Honeycomb Taste Burnt ?

TOO much heat ! Another common mistake and you guessed it – I made it too !

The syrup becomes burnt and bitter, you can see it starting to smoke.

DON’T leave your pan unattended and keep an eye on the temperature.

Remove from the heat as soon as it reaches temperature and add the bicarbonate of soda.

How Do I Store Homemade Honeycomb ?

In an airtight container or it will go soft. A glass container works best.

DO NOT STORE HONEYCOMB IN THE FRIDGE otherwise it will go soft.

Jars and a dish of freshly made cinder toffee.

How Long Does Homemade Honeycomb Last ?

Stored correctly in an airtight container in a cool dry place honeycomb will last for up to three months or longer.

I’ve stored ours in Le Parfait jars and our honeycomb was still crisp after six months.

Broken pieces of chocolate covered hokey pokey.

What To Do With Honeycomb

Cover with chocolate, who can resist homemade Crunchie?

Honeycomb is delicious in ice cream, crumbled on the top of chocolate cakes, cheesecakes or cupcakes.
How do you use yours?