Honeycomb is a type of confection made by caramelising sugar and ‘inverted’ sugar syrup; a thick mixture of glucose and fructose, obtained by splitting sucrose; to a stage known as ‘hard crack’ (approx. 146°C to 154°C), characterised by the formation brittle latticing which turns into a hard cracked ball when dropped in cold water, before adding bicarbonate of soda. This releases carbon dioxide as a result of the heat, causing the mixture to bubble furiously. The mixture is then cooled quickly, before it has a chance to crystallise. The result is a sweet, brittle toffee with a light texture and a look reminiscent of, as the name may suggest, a honeycomb.
The product enjoys many different regional names. As well as honeycomb, it is also known by such monikers as ‘cinder toffee’, ‘sponge toffee’ or ‘sponge candy’, ‘hokey pokey’, and ‘sea foam’.