Honeycomb Recipe - melissassouthernstylekitchen.com (2024)

FAQs

How honeycomb is made step by step? ›

Bees make honeycombs by first secreting a wax-like substance from glands on their abdomen. This wax is then formed into hexagons that make up the shape of the honeycomb. The bees then fill the honeycomb with the nectar they collect from flowers and use enzymes in their saliva to turn the nectar into honey.

Chewy honeycomb happens when the mixture hasn't been cooked for long enough. This is most common when you don't use a sugar thermometer. If you don't heat the mixture to 149°C the sugar won't achieve the brittleness required for that crumbly, crunchy texture.

If your sugar syrup isn't hot enough, it will make your honeycomb very chewy. The best way to make sure your sugar is at the right temperature is to use a sugar thermometer. The mixture should be at the 'hard ball' stage, which is normally between 121-130 degrees Celsius.

White vinegar – one of the things that makes this candy unique is the light and airy texture of the toffee. We have the vinegar, in part, to thank for that! Vinegar reacts with the baking soda in the recipe to form little bubbles of carbon dioxide that give the honeycomb candy its airy, crisp texture.

Honeycomb is basically beeswax and raw honey, so it's 100% edible and safe to eat. The beeswax alone has very little nutritional value, with the exception of trace amounts of Vitamin A. However, since our system does not break down beeswax, it can help the body move food and waste through the gut.

Honeycomb is essentially hot toffee blended with a little bicarbonate of soda to make it bubble and foam. The mistake most first timers make is to take the syrup off the heat too soon. This makes the honeycomb sticky and doesn't allow it to set correctly.

Choose the best honeycomb

It's all good unless the melted sugar is cooked for too long, when it will burn and the bitterness detracts from the acid-sweet pleasures expected. If you undercook it, it will not set properly.

Bee propolis is a sticky, brown substance sometimes known as bee glue. The honey bees gather tree resin, the main ingredient in propolis, from buds and cracks in the bark. The bees add salivary secretions to the resin by chewing on it and add beeswax to the mix. Propolis has a little pollen in it, too.

Fixing an incorrect temperature

If you've overshot the temperature, add a little extra water and hold off on adding the baking soda. The additional water cools down the solution and decreases the sugar concentration. Just continue boiling again and this time stop at the correct temperature.

Heat softens honeycomb. Add a few small chunks of honeycomb on top of the bread. While the honeycomb won't melt entirely, it will become more pliable, allowing you to spread it on the toast with a knife or fork. As the honeycomb heats up, it will not only become softer, but more aromatic as well.

Why does my honeycomb go sticky? ›

Temperature – allow the sugar syrup to reach the required temperature of 149°C known as hard crack. Taking the syrup off the heat too soon is a common mistake, causing the honeycomb to be sticky.

What is the science behind this Honeycomb Candy? The baking soda (also known as bicarbonate of soda) heats up and when it does that, it releases a gas that gets trapped in the caramelized honey and sugar. This results in bubbles that resembles actual honeycomb from bees!

Honeycomb candy is known by many names.

Honeycomb toffee, sponge toffee, cinder toffee and hokey poke are just a few. Often though, it is simply referred to as honeycomb. The exact origin of this light yet rigid candy is disputed almost as much as the various names.

One of the simplest and most fun confectioneries to make at home is cinder toffee, also known as honeycomb or sponge toffee.

Scrape into the tin immediately – be careful, the mixture will be very hot. The mixture will continue bubbling in the tin, simply leave it and in about 1 hr-1 hr 30 mins the honeycomb will be hard and ready to crumble or snap into chunks.

Beeswax is produced from a gland in the abdomen of honeybees and is excreted to create the hive itself. The female worker bees have 8 glands in their abdomens to produce the wax when it is time to build the honeycomb. The wax that is secreted hardens as soon as it hits the air and forms a wax scale. (Fun fact!

Scientists don't really know why it happens, but the bees seem to be using their body heat to melt the wax from a circle shape into a hexagon shape. Hexagons and honeycomb shapes are also useful for building things humans use, too, like bridges, airplanes, and cars. It gives materials extra strength.