Honeycomb Toffee – Do the Hokey Pokey

This very easy to make candy goes by many names; cinder toffee, sponge candy, and my personal favorite, “hokey pokey,” but no matter what you call it, this eye-catching confection is a proven crowd-pleaser. And, that’s before you dip in in chocolate, as my British friends highly recommend.

It’s no big secret that people love sweet, crispy things, but this also features the most interesting melt-in-your-mouth texture, which is created by thousands of bubbles, trapped in the cooling sugar syrup. As you can see in the video, I did two batches with different amounts of baking soda, and while the second batch did look better, the first batch was crunchier, and didn’t have any kind of aftertaste.

Other than suffering a horrible burn, there’s not a lot that can go wrong with this recipe, as long as you heat the syrup to 300 F. I checked mine with a probe thermometer, although a candy thermometer that attaches to the side of the pan would be a lot easier. Some folks say you can simply go by appearance, and when the syrup goes from clear to slightly golden, it’s done, but that requires a certain amount of experience.

Another method to gauge the temperature is by dropping a little bit of the molten syrup in water to see if it instantly turns into rock candy. That will work, but since thermometers aren’t expensive, and every kitchen should have one, that really is the way to go. Regardless, as long as you promise to be careful, I really do hope you give this gorgeous, homemade honeycomb toffee a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 portions:

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup (or golden syrup)

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon baking soda (do not use baking powder)

2 tablespoons water

- Heat to 300 F. before adding baking soda