Gingerbread Chocolate Honeycomb (Cinder Toffee)

This gorgeous gingerbread chocolate honeycomb is a festive twist on the popular traditional candy

I first made cinder toffee (also known as honeycomb, angel food candy, hokey pokey or sea foam, to mention just a few) a couple of years ago. It was the first of my posts to ever go “viral” and so far, has amassed almost 50,000 shares over social media.

Traditionally, in the UK we eat cinder toffee around the time of Bonfire Night (5th November) but I thought it was time there was a Christmas version.

Enter my gingerbread chocolate honeycomb. Very little has been changed from my original recipe but this time I’ve added traditional gingerbread spices and topped the chocolate off with broken pepparkakor (gingerbread).

I wasn’t sure how well the gingerbread flavours would mesh with the cinder toffee itself but it worked beautifully. There is only a mild hit from the spices that complemented the sweetness so nicely.

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Gingerbread Chocolate Honeycomb

Honeycomb (aka cinder toffee, sea foam or sponge candy) is the easiest homemade candy recipe. This Gingerbread chocolate honeycomb is a festive version for Christmas.

Course Candy

Cuisine British

Prep Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 200g white sugar
• 4 tablespoons golden syrup (see notes)
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon bicarbonate (baking soda)
• 200g milk chocolate

Instructions

• Line an 8 x 8 tin with grease-proof/baking paper. EDITED: some people have reported that the cinder toffee has overflown. Therefore, make sure you use a fairly deep dish (mine is 5cm in depth).
• In a heavy bottomed pan, add the sugar and syrup and heat on a medium temperature until the sugar starts to melt.
• Stir often, making sure the mixture doesn't stick, and continue to cook until it changes to a darker brown colour (this should take around 6-8 minutes but watch it carefully because it is very easy to burn). Add the spices and cook for another minute.
• Remove from the heat and then quickly add the baking soda, whisking it in to the hot mixture, then pour into the prepared tin. Move fast because the sugar mixture starts to harden almost immediately.
• Set to one side until it has hardened completely (about 30 minutes).
• In the meantime, melt the chocolate and then pour over the hardened honeycomb. Break, crush or cut up the gingerbread and sprinkle over. Allow the chocolate to set (it doesn't need to be in the fridge unless you are in a hurry).
• When ready, break or cut into shards. The pictures in this post show very large pieces for photographic purposes which were broken into smaller pieces before eating.

Notes

Golden syrup is something commonly used in the UK. Sources tell me that it is available in the US and Canada and can be found in the International aisles (Lyles is the brand). That said, any golden-coloured syrup should work in this recipe.

I use grams in my recipes as weighing ingredients is the most accurate method. However, if cups are your thing, you can convert my measurements at Cook it Simply.