Nigella Lawson explained: “Hokey pokey is a Cornish term for honeycomb. It is wonderful eaten in golden shards or crumbled into the best vanilla ice cream.”
The chef said “no one can resist a bit of hokey pokey” as the treats are simply irresistible.
“The quantities I’ve specified [for the recipe] don’t make an awful lot,” she confessed. “But any more and you’d be sued by your dentist.”
And, surprisingly, there are only three ingredients needed to make this delicious and moreish snack.
Best shared with friends and family, here’s how to make Nigella Lawson’s hokey pokey honeycomb treat.
Honeycomb
Ingredients
- 100g caster sugar
- Four tablespoons of golden syrup
- One-and-a-half teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda
Method
Put the sugar and syrup into a large, deep saucepan and stir together to mix (while the heat is completely off).
Now place the pan on the heat and let the mixture melt, turn to goo and then to a bubbling mass – it’ll be the colour of maple syrup — this will take three minutes or so.
Off the heat, whisk in the bicarbonate of soda and watch the syrup turn pale gold.
Turn this immediately onto a piece of reusable baking parchment or greased foil. Leave until set and then bash at it, so that it splinters into many glinting pieces.
Reviewers who tried the recipe for themselves have shared their opinion on the honeycomb process and how it tastes.
“I would advise watching the pan like a hawk,” one reviewer noted. “When I was little this was known as ‘puff candy; and it’s still my favourite treat… sometimes I dip the pieces in chocolate.”
Another said Nigella’s recipe made “delicious” and crispy real honeycomb pieces. Whole somebody else noted: “Works a treat! Make sure you measure exactly and don’t cook on too high a heat.”
