This easy to make Homemade Honeycomb recipe makes the most delicious salted caramel candy that can be added to cake, ice cream, cookies, or even coated in chocolate for the perfect holiday neighbor gift!
Ingredients You Need for Honeycomb Candy
This easy to make Homemade Honeycomb Candy is made with just a few simply ingredients:
- granulated sugar: I doubt this ingredient will surprise you since it’s in every candy recipe I can think of! You’ll be boiling the sugar with water and corn syrup, like like my caramel sauce recipe.
- water: this helps the sugar dissolve and will cook out as the sugar cooks.
- dark or golden corn syrup: this is another element in candy making. The dark corn syrup provides a little sweetness, a little bitterness, color, and aids in preventing crystallization.
- honey: adds flavor
- baking soda: this one is a must, so don’t forget it or try to replace it. This is what gets the honeycomb to foam up and create the texture. As with cakes, make sure your baking soda is fresh. (Nothing older than 6 months.)
- cream of tartar: acids acidity and ensures you get an even frothiness to the mixture
How to Make Homemade Honeycomb
- Prep your ingredients: before you get started, it’s best to have all of your ingredients measured and ready to go so you’re not scrambling to measure ingredients when your candy reaches the desired temperature. Make sure to all line your 8-inch x 8-inch baking pan with parchment before you get started too. You’ll want the parchment to go up the sides a little ways. The honeycomb will grow over the height of the pan if it’s 2-inches or shorter.
- Heat sugar, corn syrup, honey and water over the stove: combine the water, sugar, corn syrup, and honey in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to combine the sugar and then let the mixture cook on it’s own. Do not continue to stir. Just like caramel sauce, the mixture will crystalize if you stir it while it cooks. Cook the mixture until it reaches 300 degrees F. Remove from heat.
- Stir in baking soda and cream of tartar: once the mixture reaches 300 degrees F, stir in the baking soda and cream of tartar using a wooden spoon. Don’t stir too much, just about 20 to 30 seconds, until there are no streaks of baking powder remaining.
- Pour into pan and let cool: immediately pour the candy into the prepared pan and allow to cool completely. This will take 1 to 2 hours.
- Break into pieces: when the honeycomb is cooled, break it into pieces and store in an airtight container until ready to use.
Ways to Use Homemade Honeycomb
Honeycomb can be used in so many different ways.
- Cake
- Buttercream
- Cookies
- Ice cream
- Dipped in chocolate
Homemade Honeycomb Candy Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup (218 g) dark or golden corn syrup
- 1/2 cup (120 g) water
- 1 tbsp. (21 g) honey
- 2 1/2 tsp. (10 g) baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. (2 g) cream of tartar
Instructions
- Before you get started, measure ingredients and line your baking pan with parchment paper. You'll want the parchment to go up the sides a little ways. The honeycomb will grow over the height of the pan if it's 2-inches or shorter.
- Combine the water, sugar, corn syrup, and honey in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to combine the sugar and then let the mixture cook on it's own. Do not continue to stir. Just like caramel sauce, the mixture will crystalize if you stir it while it cooks. Cook the mixture until it reaches 300 degrees F. Remove from heat.
- Stir in the baking soda and cream of tartar using a wooden spoon. Don't stir too much, just about 20 to 30 seconds, until there are no streaks of baking soda remaining.
- Immediately pour the candy into the prepared pan and allow to cool completely. This will take 1 to 2 hours.
- When the honeycomb is cooled, break it into pieces and store in an airtight container until ready to use.
If corn syrup is not available, can we use liquid glucose or Molasses
Thanku!
I think either should work!
If you don’t have honey, you can add 1 c. of maple syrup to the ingredients to boil (which you’d add an extra 1/2 tsp. of baking soda) or 2 tsps. of an extract, like maple, before adding the baking soda. Mama would make hers like this when we were young.
Hi Courtney,
Recipe looks easy enough even for me. However, your ingredients say use Baking Soda, and your instructions say Baking Power. Which is it?
It’s baking soda
I was curious about the use of Creame of Tartar in the recipe as most recipes only use baking soda. Followed your directions and it came out beautifully. However is it typical that the candy will sink some? Also I’m getting a slight aftertaste from the creame of tartar, can that be cut down to an 1/8th of a teaspoon?
Yes you can definitely cut that down a bit.
If I wanted to make this coffee flavored, could I add espresso powder or would that mess with it?