Getting Ready for Christmas Part 16 - Sweet Making - Honeycomb/Cinder Toffee

You probably know this better as the middle of a Crunchie. 

Cinder Toffee or Honeycomb as it is also known as Yellowman in Ireland is one of my favourites and one of the first sweet making recipes I ever tried when I was at home as a teenager. Its light and its Moorish and it does not cost much to make.  Why then when I was in John Lewis's yesterday did I find a small bag of Cinder Toffee/Honeycomb/Yellowman for the princely sum of £6.  There wasn't even half a tray in the bag.  Someone is making a killing at your expense somewhere.

This is the original recipe from my mum's Good Housekeeping cookery book and the one I use time and time again.  To make it extra luxurious you could always finish it by dipping it in melted chocolate..

Ingredients:

1lb of granulated sugar

1/4 pint of water

a pinch of cream of tartar

2 rounded tablespoons of golden syrup

1 level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons water to dissolve the bicarbonate of soda

Method

Butter a tin 12 x 4 inches

Dissolve the sugar, water, cream of tartar and golden syrup over a low heat in a 4 pint heavy based saucepan stirring gently with a sugar thermometer.  Bring to the boil and boil gently to 310 degrees F  (154 degrees Celsius) (hard crack stage) remove from the heat. 

In a separate bowl blend the bicarbonate of soda with the two teaspoons of water and add to the toffee.  Stir gently and pour at once into the well greased buttered tin (it will froth up rapidly like molten lave so you do have to move a little quickly).  Leave to cool.  When half set  Mark into squares or fingers using a buttered knife.

Makes approximately 1lb in weight.

Eat, and enjoy and save those pennies by making it yourself rather than paying through the nose for it.

Enjoy the experimentation.

Make some for friends as a Christmas present, you can buy the gift bags from Lakeland or find some nice tins and make a selection of other sweets to give as a pressie.  I used to do this on a regular basis and the sweets used to go quick.  It really is worth the effort.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x