Honeycomb (AKA Sponge Candy)
HONEYCOMB
The Easy No-bake Sweet Treat
By Mrs D
Here’s a super simple & quick, no-bake recipe for Honeycomb. This sweet treat, (also known as Sponge Candy), is so easy to make, it’s ideal for beginner bakers. You don’t need lots of equipment to be able to make this. The sugar mixture will be very very hot, so not ideal for kids to make, but they will enjoy watching the Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda) activate. It’s what gives the honeycomb texture!
Jump to Recipe
A Note On Greasing The Tin
You can grease the tin with butter, cake release spray, or home-made Lining Paste. This is less expensive and so easy to make, is vegan & you can make using Gluten free flour too if need be. Click to go to the Lining Paste recipe.
A Note On Ingredients
Golden Syrup Or Corn Syrup?
Golden Syrup is not the same as Corn Syrup or Dark Corn Syrup. The texture is slightly different and Golden Syrup has a great flavour. Golden Syrup is used in a lot of Caro’s recipes, such as her Gingerbread cake. The Gingerbread Cake recipe includes a list of where to buy Golden Syrup in the States & Canada. So click – Where To Buy Golden Syrup.
For measuring the Golden Syrup, you can measure in grams if you have a squeezy bottle. Alternatively, with a tin of the syrup, use a tbsp. But first oil the spoon and the syrup slips off really easily. Great tip for any syrup you might be measuring out.
Caster Sugar
This recipe, like most British recipes, uses Caster Sugar as opposed to granulated sugar. The equivalent in the US is Extra/Super Fine Sugar. The finer texture of the sugar in this instance, means the sugar will dissole quicker. So in this instance you could use granulated and be aware it will take a little longer for the sugar to dissolve.
Make Your Own Caster Sugar
You can however make your own Caster sugar by simply grinding granulated sugar just a little, using a food processor. Note too that US granulated is slightly smaller a granule size than our granulated sugar. So don’t grind too much or you will make Icing/Powdered sugar. See Photo below of the 3 main sugars we use in the UK. Read here more about Differences Between UK & US Baking Ingredients.
Choice Of Chocolate
You can leave the honeycomb plain, which is traditional. Or why not dip some of the honeycomb pieces in chocolate? Use your favourite type of chocolate and even add some seasonal sprinkles too.
How To Melt Chocolate In The Microwave
Melt the chocolate quicker in the microwave, by breaking up the chocolate and heating in 30 second burts. Be sure to mix in-between each burst and never heat any longer than 30 seconds or you run the risk of burning the chocolate.
Choice Of Pan To Use
Lots of recipes will have you making honeycomb and caramel in non-stick pans. However, most non-stick pans can’t tolerate the extremely high temperature and so this can ruin the non-stick coating which can release toxins into the food. A heavy bottomed pan is always recommended too. And since you are not using a non-stick pan, we advise pouring boiled water in the pan, immediately after pouring out the honeycomb, just to make it a bit easier to clean the pan once you come to it.
Give As Holiday Gifts
This honeycomb is ideal for holiday gifting, not just because it’s super simle to make, but is vegan, gluten free & dairy free (be sure to take that into account when greasing the tin). Give plain honeycomb or chocolate dipped ones, tailor to the recipients taste & favourite chocolate and place in cellophane bags, tied with some ribbon. Would be a nice addition to a food hamper/basket.
For more, read my Last Minute Food Gifts article.
Join My Facebook Group
Why not also join my Facebook group – Easy Online Baking Lessons, dedicated to this baking lessons website, as well as providing one-on-one support with myself & my team? Be sure to answer all security questions when requesting to join. Click to join the group.
HONEYCOMB RECIPE
EASY HONEYCOMB AT HOME – Chocolate Dipped
Equipment
- Weighing Scales or Measuring Cup
- Measuring Spoon
- 20cm/8" square tin (or 10"x6" – 25½x 15¼cm)
- Deep Saucepan – not non-stick
- Wooden spoon
- Sugar Thermometer
- Timer
- Toffee hammer or rolling pin
Ingredients
- 200 grams Castor Sugar (8 ozs, 1 cup)
- 125 grams Golden Syrup (5 tbsp, 4½ oz, *see notes)
- 2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 100 grams Plain or milk chocolate (3½ oz, bitter or semi-sweet, just for dipping honeycomb in if you wish)
Instructions
- Prepare a 20cm/8" square tin by greasing with butter, cake release spray or Lining Paste. (For other tin sizes see notes).
- Add the sugar and Golden Syrup to a deep pan (not a non-stick one), and mix together. On a low-medium heat, stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved. I find the best way to get the golden syrup off the tablespoon is to coat it in oil, then the syrup falls off the spoon easily. You need to not use a non-stick pan because the high temperatures ruin the non-stick coating and can release toxins into the food.
- Once the sugar and syrup have melted turn the heat up to medium. Cook until the mixture turns amber & is at the hard crack stage. Some sugar/candy thermometers have this on it, but if not, you are looking for a temperature that reads 146°c or 295°f. And for me it takes about 10 mins. You need to be keeping a close eye on this as any higher the mixture will disintegrate very easily and will lack a nice crunch.
- Now this is where you have to be really quick and careful. Once the mixture reaches the correct temperature immediately remove the pan from the heat and add the Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda) and beat vigorously until no longer visible and the mixture is foaming.
- Scrape the mixture into the greased tin right away & be careful as the mixture is very hot.
- Clean the pan straight away – pour in boiling water to help dissolve the sugar and make it easier to clean.
- Leave the honeycomb to bubble away, for about 1½ hours, at which point it will become hard. Then attack it with either a toffee hammer or end of a rolling pin! Be careful as it does splinter a bit so do it on a clear work surface.
- I liked to do some with chocolate on so just melt some broken chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts, mixing in-between each burst. Alternatively, melt in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Just dip the end of the honeycomb into the melted chocolate and place on some baking/parchment paper till set.
Notes
SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER – I would love it so much if you could sign up for my newsletter. I will send out monthly emails, showing the latest recipes and articles, and latest info. Being a site without ads, building a following, is even more important and will keep it up and running and for free to everyone. Occasionally there will be the odd seasonal emails, but is really a means of reaching you, if you are not already in one of the Facebook groups I admin. Please note too, that these email addresses are not shared or sold onto another party. Thanks so much Caro xxx
Please see the sharing options or even printing, at the right/bottom of your screen (bottom of your screen for mobiles, and down the right-hand side on computers). You can even pin this to your own Pinterest page. Alternatively, you can Print the Recipe Card above. You could also leave some feedback if you like.
Check out more Christmas Recipes
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: easy, beginner
Follow me on social media:
Thanks for reading
Happy Baking & Making
Happy Tummies & Memories!
Caro xx
Leave some feedback if you like 🙂
Caroline’s Easy Baking Lessons
Honeycomb (Sponge Candy)
