How to Make Honeycomb Candy at Home

What it means

• Only three core ingredients are needed: white sugar, golden syrup, and baking soda (butter is optional).
• The baking soda reacts with the hot sugar and releases carbon dioxide, which inflates the syrup into the characteristic bubbly, honeycomb structure.
• It goes by many names, including cinder toffee, hokey pokey, and sponge candy.
• Do not stir once poured or you will knock the air out and collapse the honeycomb.

Action steps

1. Line a deep tin or tray with parchment so the mixture has room to rise.
2. In a large deep saucepan combine roughly 200 g (1 cup) white sugar with about 5 tablespoons golden syrup.
3. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, then boil without stirring until it reaches 149-154 C (300-310 F), or turns a deep amber; use a candy thermometer for accuracy.
4. Remove from the heat and quickly whisk in about 2 teaspoons of baking soda until it foams up and turns pale.
5. Immediately pour into the lined tin without spreading or stirring, and leave undisturbed for about 1 hour until fully set.
6. Break into shards once cold and hard.

Risks & deadlines

• Molten sugar at the hard-crack stage is extremely hot (about 150 C) and causes severe burns, so keep children away and never touch it.
• Use a pan several times larger than the syrup volume because the mixture triples or quadruples in size when the baking soda is added.
• Honeycomb is hygroscopic and turns sticky in humid air, so make it on a dry day and store it airtight.