honeycomb toffee

{{Infobox food

| name = Honeycomb toffee

| image = Homemade honeycomb candy.jpg

| image_size = 250px

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| alternate_name = Sponge candy, honeycomb candy, sponge toffee, cinder toffee, seafoam, golden crunchers, hokey pokey

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| creator =

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| type = Toffee

| served =

| main_ingredient = Brown sugar, corn syrup (or molasses or golden syrup), baking soda

| variations =

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Honeycomb toffee, honeycomb candy, sponge toffee, cinder toffee, seafoam, or hokey pokey is a sugary toffee with a light, rigid, sponge-like texture. Its main ingredients are typically brown sugar (or corn syrup, molasses or golden syrup) and baking soda, sometimes with an acid such as vinegar. The baking soda and acid react to form carbon dioxide which is trapped in the highly viscous mixture. When acid is not used, thermal decomposition of the baking soda releases carbon dioxide. The sponge-like structure is formed while the sugar is liquid, then the toffee sets hard. The candy goes by a variety of names and regional variants.

Owing to its relatively simple recipe and quick preparation time, in some regions it is often made at home, and is a popular recipe for children. It is also made commercially and sold in small blocks, or covered in chocolate, a popular example being the Crunchie bar of Britain and Canada, or the Violet Crumble of Australia.

Regional names

Honeycomb toffee is known by a wide variety of names including:

cinder toffee in Britain{{cite web|last=Connelly |first=Andy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2010/sep/24/sugar-honeycomb-cinder-toffee |title=The science and magic of cinder toffee | Andy Connelly | Science | guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian |date=2010-09-24 |access-date=2012-01-05}}
fairy food candy or angel food candy in Wisconsin{{cite web| title = Two local chocolate makers battle over use of 'fairy food'| publisher = JSOnline.com| date = December 22, 2011| url = http://www.jsonline.com/business/once-upon-a-time-fairy-food-caused-a-fight-403i12u-136124333.html| access-date = 6 December 2013}}
hokey pokey in New Zealand{{cite web|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19271219.2.166.2&srpos=1&e=01-01-1839-19-01-1933--10--1-byDA---0hokey+pokey+recipe-- |title=Papers Past — Evening Post — 19 December 1927 — THE TRUANT STAR |publisher=Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz |date=1927-12-19 |access-date=2012-01-05}}{{cite web |author=Chelsea's team of cooks, added 25 May 2011 |url=http://www.chelsea.co.nz/recipes/210/hokey-pokey.aspx |title=Chelsea Sugar - Hokey Pokey |publisher=Chelsea.co.nz |date=2011-05-25 |access-date=2012-01-05 |archive-date=2011-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426123321/http://www.chelsea.co.nz/recipes/210/hokey-pokey.aspx |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.kiwiwise.co.nz/recipe/hokey-pokey |title=Hokey Pokey - New Zealand Kids Recipe at KiwiWise |publisher=Kiwiwise.co.nz |access-date=2012-01-05}}{{cite web |url=http://www.kiwianatown.co.nz/kiwiana-recipes.html |title=Popular Kiwi recipes – pavlova, anzac biscuits, roast lamb, pikelets etc |publisher=Kiwianatown.co.nz |access-date=2012-01-05 |archive-date=2010-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604103210/http://www.kiwianatown.co.nz/kiwiana-recipes.html |url-status=dead }}
honeycomb in South Africa, Australia, Britain,{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/honeycomb |title=Food - Honeycomb recipes |publisher=BBC |access-date=2012-01-05}} Ireland, Philippines, and Ohio, United States
old fashioned puff in Massachusetts{{cite web| title = Hill Top Candy| publisher = hilltop candy.com| date = 2015| url = http://www.hilltopcandy.com/Puff.html| access-date = 6 March 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150418070513/http://www.hilltopcandy.com/Puff.html| archive-date = 18 April 2015| url-status = dead}}
puff candy in ScotlandS.W.R.I. (1977). S.W.R.I. Jubilee Cookery Book. Edinburgh: Scottish Women's Rural Institutes; Reprint of 8th Edition (1968), p179
sponge candy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, St. Paul, Minnesota, Northwest Pennsylvania,{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} and Western New York{{cite web|url=http://www.buffalochow.com/2008/01/sponge_candy.html|title=Sponge Candy: Chocolate, With a Center of Honeycomb|date=January 1, 2008|publisher=BuffaloChow.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231065256/http://www.buffalochow.com/2008/01/sponge_candy.html|archive-date=December 31, 2008|url-status=usurped|access-date=13 January 2010}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=October 2024}}
sponge toffee ("tire éponge") in Canada{{cite web|url=http://www.canadianliving.com/food/sponge_toffee.php|title=Sponge Toffee Recipe|date=Fall 2009|publisher=CanadianLiving.com|access-date=6 March 2014|archive-date=16 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140216231444/http://www.canadianliving.com/food/sponge_toffee.php|url-status=dead}}
Turkish honey ("törökméz") in Hungary

In various cultures

= China =

In China, it is called fēngwōtáng (蜂窩糖; "honeycomb candy"). It is said to be a popular type of confectionery enjoyed during childhood of the post-80s.

= Hungary =

In Hungary, it is known as törökméz (Turkish honey) and is commonly sold at town fairs.

= Japan =

The same confection is a traditional sweet in Japan known as {{Nihongo||カルメ焼き|karumeyaki}}, a portmanteau of the Portuguese word caramelo (caramel) and the Japanese word yaki (to bake), and thus can be roughly translated into English as "baked caramel" or '"grilled caramel." It is typically hand-made, and often sold by street vendors.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

In Japan, raw egg whites are mixed with the baking soda to make the final product have a puffed up, dome shape.

= South Korea =

Dalgona ({{Korean|hangul=달고나|labels=no}}) is a Korean candy made with melted sugar and baking soda.{{Cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/asiatoday/korean-cuisine-introduced_b_14491452.html|title=Korean Cuisine Introduced at JNU International Food Festival|last=AsiaToday|date=31 January 2017|work=Huffington Post|access-date=5 July 2017}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170224000741|title=[Eye Plus] Forgotten past relived at Tongin Market|last=Cho|first=Chung-un|date=24 February 2017|work=The Korea Herald|access-date=5 July 2017}} It was a popular street snack in the 1970s and 1980s, and is still eaten as a retro food.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlZ1BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|title=Seoul Guide Book|last=Seoul Metropolitan Government|publisher=Gil-Job-E Media|year=2010|location=Seoul|pages=150}}

= New Zealand =

Honeycomb toffee is known as hokey pokey (especially in the Kiwi classic Hokey Pokey ice cream) in New Zealand. A very popular ice-cream flavour consisting of plain vanilla ice cream with small, solid lumps of honeycomb toffee is also known as hokey pokey. It is also used to make hokey pokey biscuits.