Hokey Pokey...

m*pp*t

...or as we'd probably call it at home honeybomb/the inside of Crunchie bars.

Anyway, apparently it's a commonly made thing here in New Zealand so I made an attempt tonight and have a sad slab of stickiness sitting on the table now.

The impression I got from recipes was that it's just a few tablespoons of sugar (fourish) with a couple of tablespoons of golden syrup in a pan, swirled around on heat until dissolved and nice and brown looking and then stir in a teaspon of baking soda. Then it magically fizzles and goes whooom! and you spread on a greased (ahem I was lazy and just used greaseproof paper. One of my many errors I suspect) pan and leave it to set.

Since I produced this non-crunchie slab of sugariness (so it still tastes ok, just completely the wrong texture) I've googled and found some people swear by not stirring the sugar/syrup mix, some say stir constantly, some say to add the baking soda while on the heat, others not and I'm losing faith in the internet. Except for you guys of course! (Naturally they all agree that the stuff should be put on a greased tin. D'oh!)

So, em, basicallY I'm wondering if anyone's tried making this before and got it to work out all nice and crunchie and smashable?

Magic Monkey

Stir initially only to dissolve the sugar, after that don't stir. Add baking soda off the heat, then return to heat and whisk for 30 seconds. Immediately pour into your greased tray which has been lightly floured as well.

Do you have a sugar thermometer and can get light corn syrup or liquid glucose? As I can post up a recipe, but those two things are required for consistent results, as you have to cook the sugar to a specific temperaure/stage, and the corn syrup/liquid glucose is necessary for the correct texure.

Dizzyblonde

I saw Simon Rimmer make in on Something For The Weekend and it turned out really crunchy. Here's his recipe:

75g, 2 3/4 oz caster sugar
2tbsp golden syrup
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Lightly grease a baking tray with butter (or use parchment)
In a deep-sided pot, warm the sugar and golden syrup over
a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Increase the heat to medium and continue to heat, without stirring,
for 5-10 minutes or until it has thickened and formed a caramel.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the bicarbonate of soda and stir
until smooth and well combined. Be careful, the mixture will foam up rapidly!
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and leave to cool. Once it has cooled
and hardened you can break it up.

The Sweeper

As per Dizzyblonde, but when you add the bicarb to the caramel, (which is at 120 degrees so no open-toed sandals while you're cooking), it will foam up very quickly. Don't stir it - stirring it knocks the air out of it and it'll collapse. Pour it into the greased pan (or whatever you're using). Those silicon rubber cookery moulds are great for any caramel - you don't have to grease it, just pour in and wait to set.