Sponge Toffee, or Honeycomb, is a light airy sweet treat that is actually very easy to make at home. Dip in chocolate for an even more decadent treat!
Sponge Toffee (Honeycomb) Recipe
Sponge Toffee may look like it is tricky to make but it is actually very easy!
This is one of my Dad's favorite treats and I always buy him some for Christmas. I never even thought about trying to make it because it looked so fancy and decadent I figured it must be hard to make... until one day I decided to try and make it and discovered this is a 4 ingredient dessert!
Give this a try and you won't be disappointed. This is a great year round gift!
More Easy Desserts you Will Love!
What is in Sponge Toffee
Secret Ingredient
- Baking Soda - if you ever wondered how those beautiful airy bubbles form in sponge toffee, the secret is baking soda. The base of this treat is sugar, honey and water that is melted together. Once a spoon of baking soda is added in the mixture puffs up and all the wonderful bubbles are formed! It's magical to watch.
- White Sugar - this recipe cannot be made with any other kind of sugar or sugar substititue (ex. monk fruit sweetener, etc.)
- Honey - this recipe cannot be made with any other kind of liquid sweetener or substitute (ex. agave, corn syrup, etc.)
- Water
How to Make Sponge Toffee
Check out my Video Tutorial here
Full Printable Recipe Below
Note: During the entire cooking process be very careful not to get any of the sugar mixture on your hands. The mixture will be very hot. I recommend wearing oven mitts during the cooking process to be extra safe.
1 Line a rectangular 9 x 13 baking dish with parchment paper to cover the base of the pan and high enough to go above the edges of the pan.
2 In a medium sized pot stir together the sugar, honey and water with a metal whisk or fork.
3 Heat on medium heat for 12-15 minutes until everything fully melts and started to bubble.
4 Once the mixture has turned amber in color, add in the baking soda and stir vigorously. The mixture will being to foam up, bubble, and double - triple in size. Turn the heat off.
5 Using a rubber spatula pour the mixture into the lined baking dish.
Note: the mixture will flatten and spread throughout the baking dish on it's own. Do not use a utensil to spread the mixture out. If you try to spread it out with a utensil it will cause holes and gaps. Do NOT use hands to spread mixture, it will burn you!
6 Leave the sponge toffee at room temperature to set for 2 hours. Once it has hardened break into smaller pieces.
Optional: in a microwave safe bowl melt chocolate chips in 15 second intervals, stirring between each interval.
Dip pieces of sponge toffee in chocolate and place on a parchment paper lined tray. Chill in the fridge until chocolate sets.
Tips for the Best Sponge Toffee
- Ingredients - this recipe cannot have any ingredients swapped. The ratio of water, sugar, honey and baking soda is specific to this recipe and therefore no substitutions can be made.
- Prep - be extremely careful during the entire cooking process. I wear oven mitts once I start heating the water, sugar and honey mixture. The candy is extremely hot and will instantly burn your skin if it comes in contact with skin.
- Setting Time - before you star to make the sponge toffee line a baking sheet with edges with parchment paper. This way once the sponge toffee mixture is ready you can pour it right into the tray. Allow the sponge toffee to naturally spread out in the tray. If you try to use a spoon, spatula or anything else to spread out the toffee it will stick to it and cause holes in the toffee. Allow the sponge toffee to set at room temperature. Once it has fully set, tap it on the top to make sure it is hardened. Then break it up into pieces to serve.
FAQ's Sponge Toffee
Store in an air tight container or Ziploc bag at room temperature for up to 2-3 weeks. The sponge toffee is freshest within the first week of making it. If dipping in chocolate, store in a cool dry place away from sunlight or the chocolate may melt.
Yes! This recipe is perfect for make ahead parties and gifts. Follow the recipe and store the sponge toffee in an air tight container or Ziploc bag at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.
No. Sponge toffee is not recommended to be frozen. The texture of the sponge toffee will change and the moisture from the freezer will melt the toffee.
Yes! You can dip the sponge toffee in any kind of chocolate, or colored candy melts you like! You can add sprinkles on top of the chocolate, drizzle different colors of chocolate or candy melts on top, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Enjoy!
- Sab
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, may earn me a small commission.
Sponge Toffee (Honeycomb)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups granulated white sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
Optional Garnish
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (for dipping)
Instructions
- Note: During the entire cooking process be very careful not to get any of the sugar mixture on your hands. The mixture will be very hot. I recommend wearing oven mitts during the cooking process to be extra safe.
- Line a rectangular 9 x 13 baking dish with parchment paper to cover the base of the pan and high enough to go above the edges of the pan.
- In a medium sized pot stir together the sugar, honey and water with a metal whisk or fork.
- Heat on medium heat for 12-15 minutes until everything fully melts and started to bubble.
- Once the mixture has turned amber in color add in the baking soda and stir vigorously. The mixture will being to foam up, bubble, and double - triple in size. Turn the heat off.
- Using a rubber spatula pour the mixture into the lined baking dish. Note: the mixture will flatten and spread throughout the baking dish on it's own. Do not use a utensil to spread the mixture out. If you try to spread it out with a utensil it will cause holes and gaps. Do NOT use hands to spread mixture, it will burn you!
- Leave the sponge toffee at room temperature to set for 2 hours.
- Once it has hardened break into smaller pieces.
- Optional: in a microwave safe bowl melt chocolate chips in 15 second intervals, stirring between each interval.Dip pieces of sponge toffee in chocolate and place on a parchment paper lined tray. Chill in the fridge until chocolate sets.
- Storage: Store chocolate dipped sponge toffee in an air tight container in the fridge.Sponge toffee (not dipped in chocolate) can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature (away from direct sunlight) for up to 2 weeks.
Shoni says
Is it possible to put the mixture in a mini shaped tray, or muffin tin ie that way the pieces would be in neat different shapes, or could it be spooned out to form individual circles to set? Thanks
fedbysab says
Hi Shoni, since the sponge toffee sets extremely quickly it is not recommended to spoon out the mixture into individual pieces or to pour the mixture into muffins tins or other shaped tins/molds. That is a great idea and would be fun to create different shapes but once the sugar mixture is heated it must be immediately poured out to set. With that being said, it can really only be poured into one big piece to set and then broken up into smaller pieces.