This recipe is an amalgamation of two of the most delicious foods in baking: chocolate and honeycomb! This gives it delicious crunch but also rich decadent smoothness. It is inspired by my friends both who make similar dishes which I have enjoyed many times in the past (whether under the alias of 'Chocolate Slice' or 'Praline'), so I thought I should add to the debate of which is best by adding another possible name with another possible recipe. You're welcome!
For recipe see bottom of page.
Firstly, thanks to the honeycomb this involves sugar cookery. Now this bit is tricky but also incredibly satisfying, after all what skill is more impressive on a CV than honeycomb construction? I personally like to use a glass filled with water which allows me to clearly see the stages as the sugar heats up, this makes it more difficult to burn than just looking at the colour (spoiler: once you can smell it burning, its too late! You have to start again...). When you drop in the molten sugar this is how it looks at each stage:
Soft Ball: It forms a ball as it falls but flattens when it hits the bottom of the glass.
Firm Ball/ Hard Ball: It forms as a ball as it falls but keeps its shape when it hits the bottom of the glass.
Soft Crack: It sets with a drip above the ball as it falls, but when you lift it out to crack the drip it will bend and break, without a sound.
Hard Crack: It forms a drip above the ball when it falls, when you lift it out to crack it it will snap cleanly with a cracking noise.
You can also use a sugar thermometer, with hard crack being around 150°C, but I find they are often difficult to use for smaller quantities of sugar such as this.
Also a cleaning tip is fill the pans and anything that has touched the sugar with water, you will never get it off with a sponge and soap, but it will just dissolve into the water, so the pan is easy to clean an hour or so later.
Another exciting factor is the chocolate and butter melting, this is liable to seize as the water from the butter evaporates under the chocolate. This causes the chocolate mix to become thick and lumpy (unable to coat the ingredients). This can be avoided with constant stirring over a low heat, but the addition of oil should also reverse the effects of any seizing so don't worry too much if you do find it occurring.
A fun thing about this recipe if there is an unlimited amount of ingredients you can add (add them at the stage you add the biscuits), my recommendations would include: raisins, glacé cherries, marshmallows, dried apricots, mini Smarties, Lotus Biscoff (as a substitute for biscuits), sprinkles and many more! Let your imagination run wild, I would love to hear about any exciting combinations down below!
My final tip would be don't store it in the fridge! It often makes homemade honeycomb go very chewy, more like toffee, which makes it very difficult to eat!
So I guess all that is left to say is thank you to my 'Praline'/ 'Chocolate Slice' friends (the people not the food) for the inspiration and I hope they appreciate the free Honeycomb Crunchy Chocolate Tiffin I'm about to give them! If anyone has any questions, queries or suggestions please leave them below and I will be more than happy to respond. I find it lovely to know when people appreciate my recipes!
Happy Baking,
Bree :)
Recipe
Ingredients:
200g Sugar
2½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
300g Milk Chocolate
75g Butter
75ml Vegetable Oil
200g Digestive Biscuits
200g White Chocolate
Instructions:
Honeycomb:
First line a 20cm by 20cm Square tin with grease-proof paper, measure the bicarbonate of soda into a small bowl and fill a pint glass with water place both near your hob (you will need these later!).
Measure the sugar and 50ml water into a pan. Dissolve the sugar by heating on a hob over low heat. You can gently stir by moving a wooden spoon in lines across the bottom of the pan but be careful not to splash the mixture up onto the sides of the pan (as it will crystallise and cause the molten sugar to crystallise, which will mean you have to start again).
When the sugar is dissolved the liquid will appear clear and when you run the spoon over the bottom of the pan it won't feel grainy. At this point start gradually heating the sugar we want to heat it up to what is called 'hard crack' stage (around 150°C).
As you heat the sugar don't stir it! However you can shake the pan occasionally if you want. To test the temperature dip the end of the handle of a wooden spoon into the sugar and drip some into the pint glass it will go through various stages. Firstly soft ball, firm ball and hard ball (when the sugar drops into the water it will first form a ball which will at first dissolve when it hits the bottom of the glass but then gradually start to keep its shape as it gets hotter). Then soft crack, followed by hard crack. What you are looking for in hard crack is a clear snap (when you lift the set sugar out of the glass and snap it it should snap cleanly and with a crack noise). You can also use a sugar thermometer to measure these stages, but I prefer to do it this way.
At this point add the bicarbonate of soda and stir quickly to combine then transfer to they lined tray and leave to cool at room temperature (as fridges tend to make honeycomb go chewy).
When the honeycomb is cooled remove it from the tin and place on a chopping board. Line the tin with grease-proof paper again for the chocolate tiffin.
Tiffin:
Measure out the biscuits into a blender and blend under crumbly with some large chunks for texture.
Then weigh the chocolate and butter into a heat proof bowl.
Chop up the honeycomb into bite sized chunks (don't worry it will crumble a bit). The tricky bit here is not to eat all the honeycomb! Reserve a couple of the chunks in an airtight container for decoration later.
Melt the chocolate and butter over a pan of simmering water, don't worry if it becomes lumpy or thick this is called seizing and the oil we will add when its fully melted will fix it.
When the chocolate and butter mix is fully melted stir in the oil until well combined.
Then add the chopped honeycomb and crumbs to the chocolate mix and stir till the honeycomb is well coated in the chocolate (this will help prevent the honeycomb going chewy).
Then add in the crumbled biscuits and stir till they are well coated.
Pour the mixture into the tin and press down with the bottom of a glass to fill the shape of the tin, the back of a spoon can also be used to help get the mixture right into the corners. When you are happy the mixture is evenly pressed into the tin with a level top leave to set at room temperature.
When the mixture is set. Break up the white chocolate and melt it in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
While the chocolate is melting, finely chop the earlier reserved honeycomb.
Pour the melted chocolate over the biscuit mixture and spread evenly over the top with the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle the chopped honeycomb over the top for decoration, leave to set at room temperature.
Chop into sixteenths and enjoy!
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