Got a comment from Doreen about making honeycomb candy and while lying in bed trying to distract myself from pain I got to wondering about why the brittle in peanut brittle (which I used to make years ago) and honeycomb have such different texture. Peanut brittle is hard and shiny while honeycomb is full of air bubbles, as the name suggests,and tender (there's a better word for what I mean but I can't think of it just now). I also remembered I have a recipe for the Irish version called Yellow Man. Hm, when able to get to PC I'd have to look at the differences. I suspected it has to do with amount of baking soda and maybe with use of Golden Syrup as opposed to other ingredients. As it happened, I finally got my stomach settled in the wee hours of Wednesday morning and when I got up to drink some milk, the Violet Crumble called my name. Crazy, I know, since all I'd had to eat Tuesday was a little bread, milk and cereal. I "reasoned" :) my blood sugar was low so it might even be a good idea to break off a bit and slowly enjoy it. Know what? I have to retract my earlier statement about Violet Crumble being better than Cadbury's Crunchie bar. In my defense, it's been ages since I had the Australian candy while I can occasionally find the Cadbury here in Virginia or have my son get some in PA. I realized that the chocolate on the Nestle's product (Violet Crumble) is waxier and less chocolatey than Cadbury's chocolate. And the honeycomb center of Violet Crumble is a lighter, finer texture with less flavor than the center of the Crunchy bar. Isn't that fortuitous since the Violet Crumble (when it can be found here) is nearly twice the cost of the Cadbury?
So I checked the various recipes and found that only 1 tsp. of baking soda is used in peanut brittle, 2 tsp. in Yellow Man and 1 tablespoon in honeycomb (at least the one recipe I looked at). Big difference! Doreen, if you are reading, I wonder if you've used the Golden Syrup the British and Australian recipes call for or just honey and corn syrup. Would be interesting to know how much difference it makes in taste. Glad Dorren reminded me too of the intense reaction that happens when the baking soda is added. I'd nearly forgotten that and it can be tricky. Will be awhile before I can get around to trying the recipe -- too much work to catch up on and not good to make when weather is so humid and stormy. I agree that coating the pieces in chocolate is a must. We can discount the extra calories because the chocolate helps preserve the honeycomb which needs to be in airtight container.
We have reached the end of Shopping Therapy with final items in silver and pink.
I'm not quite where I wanted to be with Boho Baby. Had hoped at this point to be a week ahead but just not happy with some of what I've done.
1 comment:
I have not made peanut brittle in years, but my girls (all grown now) have continued the tradition first started in the 70s. We used the clear syrup, but fancied it up with real butter. You will never make it w/o butter again. I cannot remember if we used butter for the honeycomb. I will see if I can get the original recipe from one of my girls. I am going to tell them about the golden syrup. My hubby liked when I used pecans & shredded coconut - instead of peanuts. Living in the South, I can attest to humidity problems - same with petit fours frosting.
Post a Comment