This recipe for honeycomb, which despite the name doesn’t contain any honey, comes from the fabulous Nigella. My only innovation, which is in no way insignificant, is to add a layer of dark chocolate. The slight bitterness of the chocolate adds a delicious and necessary counterpoint to the oh-so-sweet honeycomb.

I approached this simple recipe with (a little too much) confidence. I make praline all the time without a sugar thermometer so I didn’t use it with this either. After a humbling failed batch I took my thermometer out of the drawer. I highly recommend using one for this recipe. Sugar thermometers are quite inexpensive (I bought mine from David Jones several years ago for about $10 or so) and takes out the uncertainty when making candies.

It’s lovely eaten as is but I highly recommend serving it New Zealand style; that is, by calling it the slightly silly name of Hokey Pokey and mixing small pieces of it stirred through vanilla ice-cream. Oh yeah, that’s what it’s all about!

100g caster (superfine) sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup
1.5 tsps bi-carb
50-100g dark chocolate

Prepare a tray, or large baking dish, by lining it with baking paper.

Heat the sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved and reaches a temperature of 150C/300F. It isn’t necessary to stir (in fact Nigella advises against it) but do swirl the pan if needed to incorporate some of the sugar.

While you are waiting for the sugar and golden syrup to boil take the time to make sure that the bi-carb is lump free. Otherwise you may end up with some lumps of bi-carb in the finished honeycomb and it’s not pleasant to eat.

When the temperature is reached remove from the heat and add the bi-carb. Stir quickly. Pour out onto the tray. Allow to cool.

Melt the chocolate and stir until smooth. Turn the cooled honeycomb over and smear the chocolate all over the flat underside. Allow to cool.

If you live somewhere humid as I do then it’s best to keep it in an airtight container the fridge.