Cake-

off heat scrape into tray leave to cool
Sometimes you just won’t catch the right caramel point. Too dark caramel
and the bicarb will escalate the heat, meaning the honeycomb will be
bitterly burnt before you get it in the tray – you will smell the darkness.


Start over. Too pale caramel and the honeycomb will be less lofty and more
chewy (hi dentist, take my money). Still good for chopping up and using for
cake add-ins.

Okay, let’s ’comb!
Place the saucepan over a high heat and stir with a stiff plastic spatula
slowly until it boils. It will be tough and sticky then yield to liquid.


Once it’s liquid, remove your spatula and boil on high until the colour
turns from its original honey hue to a few shades darker – like amber.


Do not stir (see Caramel control, page 268). Swirl the saucepan to
circulate a uniform colour, as it can cook unevenly. Reduce heat to
medium and cook until the caramel is almost dark amber and the
smell of toasted honey wafts up (around 170°C/340°F).

The moment before it hits the target colour/temperature and you
add the bicarb, turn the heat back up full high for 5–10 seconds to
re-invigorate the caramel heat. Then remove from the heat, quickly
tip the bicarb in and slowly and thoroughly (and VERY VERY carefully)
mix with your spatula for around 1–3 seconds. The mix will puff up
like a rising cloud as you stir. Don’t stir this too fast or the precious
airiness will be knocked out.


Don’t stir out any stray bits of bicarb and risk loss of loft.

Carefully scrape the mix out onto the prepared tray. Do not be tempted
to touch it until it has cooled.* Allow to cool at room temperature for
at least 30 minutes before cutting. Break into pieces and store in an
airtight container in the freezer if not using straight away.

Adaptrix
Honey-nutcomb
Add 100 g (3½ oz) of toasted
nuts, crushed to a gravelly crumb,
with the bicarbonate of soda.


This  honeycomb will have a little
less rise than regular ’comb. Great
with  peanuts!

Hokey pokey
Not really an Adaptrix, more a
Just Do-trix. Soften a tub of good
vanilla bean ice-cream and massage
chopped honeycomb into it. Return
to the freezer to firm a little.


Chocolate dip
Six-year-old me is beside herself
that she gets to make her own
choc-dipped honeycomb! Carefully
saw the honeycomb into chunks
with a serrated knife (cutting with
a non-serrated knife will create
more shards than dippable pieces)
and freeze. Melt 200 g (7 o z) good
milk chocolate with 200 g (7 o z)
bittersweet (50–60%, or higher if
you’re feeling dark) chocolate and
20 g oz) neutral coconut oil in
a small deep bowl over a double
boiler. Cool to 25°C (75°F) so it
coats thickly and dip the honeycomb
pieces in à la the Mocha glim glams
dipping directions (page 43). Chill
to set and store.

* If you fear the honeycomb may be
a bit dark when scraping it into the
tray, tear the top skin open with the
spatula to cool faster. You’ll lose air,
but hopefully avoid unusably burnt
honeycomb.
stir until
sugar melts
boil hard until
light tan
(do not stir)
just before
bicarb, increase
to high heat
170°C
lower heat
+ cook to
dark tan
bicarb