HONEYCOMB CANDY

Years ago, back at school, I have to say my FAVOURITE class ever was chemistry- without a doubt! Not many people enjoyed it, but I thought it was the most interesting class ever and it just made me understand so many things about how things work in life. I absolutely loved all that talk about atoms and electrons and all those lab experiments that ranged from making soap to chlorophyll fluorescence. At one point I actually wanted to pursue a career in chemistry and was ready to wear a lab coat for the rest of my life (specifically in the cosmetic industry- I wanted to understand the science behind mascaras and lipsticks hehe). Well, it turns out that there is one thing we never got to in chem class which was making honeycomb candy. Apparently, this is one of things that all students end up doing in chemistry 101. Well I didn't, and now I am making up for it later on in life. And one day I hope I will take some serious time to read in great depth all the chemistry behind food and cooking, because I am sure it must be incredibly insightful. So for this post there is nothing spectacular really- it's just about making honeycomb candy and is also an opportunity for me to mention a blog that I recently discovered and that I am completely hooked on: Playing with Fire & Water. "Foodplayerlinda" (the author behind the blog) is incredibly talented, and it is off her blog that I picked up the honeycomb recipe. Except I think hers turned out better then mine, hehe. The holes are bigger on hers! Recipe for Honeycomb candy (off Playing with Fire & Water):

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbspns water

2 Tbspns honey

1 1/2 tsps baking soda

Before starting anything, have all your ingredients ready at hand and a greased baking sheet already covering a deep plate or mould. Place the sugar in a saucepan and place on heat. Then add in the water and honey and let everything melt together. Small bubbles will then form (as in when you make caramel), let those bubbles become larger and watch the colour of the mixture carefully. Once it is of a light golden colour, remove from heat and immediately add in the baking soda, stir for SECONDS (you have to be quick here, once the mixture starts going "poof" you cannot leave it that way for too long! Or else your honeycomb candy will have the tiniest holes ever. Trust me, I messed up on this the first time). Very quickly, dump the mixture onto the baking sheet and let it harden for about 15 mins.

Enjoy on its own, or coated with chocolate, or add bits of it into a chocolate mousse, yoghurt or ice cream.