Honeycomb Confection
Coming across little gems of foodie finds is exciting! Concocting candy confections with creativity and confidence is thrilling! (did you like all those “C’s”?). My point being, it’s fun to have an easy recipe at your fingertips to bring creativity to your recipes. Also, it’s impressive to be able to pull out something cool “on the fly” to add that extra touch.
A while back, I was watching a BBC cooking show, which I will do on occasion. Right before my eyes was this amazing caramel application…new, exciting and of course, I was intrigued! Like any good Chef, I scoured resources to find a recipe to tweek and call my own. I’m happy to report, I found my own! I’m enamoured with caramel and orange as a flavor combination (don’t forget to use that handy-dandy zester!). So, this is what I’m bringing to this Honeycomb Confection recipe.
As you may recall, I posted a recipe for Banana & Ricotta Pancakes which I used Honeycomb Confection crumbles as part of my plating. Notice that tall, gorgeous spike of golden delicious behind the stack of pancakes? That’s the Honeycomb Confection! The crumbles on the plate are a fun textural play with Honeycomb to amp up the plating design.
Experiment with this! Dip some Honeycomb shards in chocolate and roll in your favorite chopped nuts. Jimmies are also fun! Crumble on top of your favorite ice cream. Eat by itself when you just need a little sweet something. With this recipe, you can omit the orange zest and do a plain Honeycomb Confection. Again, this is your world! Play….go on….play! Play, create and have fun. How will you use your Honeycomb Confection? Share your ideas in the comments! Happy cooking!
Honeycomb Confection
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- parchment paper or silicon pad
- 1 heavy duty pot (4-quart)
- silicon, high temperature spatula
- zester (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup orange honey
- 1 pinch coarse sea salt
- 1 tbsp orange, zested (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp baking soda sifted
Instructions
- IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE EVERYTHING PREPPED BEFORE YOU START THIS RECIPE! Because this recipe moves quickly once the sugar turns golden, everything needs to be ready to incorporate very quickly.
- Add first three ingredients to a heavy duty pot. Over medium high heat, cook until sugar is dissolved and well incorporated with the honey, stirring constantly with spatula. When the mixture begins to turn golden and slightly bubble turn off the heat (approximately 3-4 minutes).
- Add zest, if using, vanilla and baking soda, stirring constantly. The mixture will bubble up in pan….this means you are doing it correctly. Quickly transfer to a parchment lined sheet pan. Allow to cool completely before handling. This takes about 10 minutes.
- Once cooled, you can break into shards, crumble, dip in chocolate, and roll in fun stuff like nuts or jimmies. Get out your favorite ice cream and crumble it on top!
