Honeycomb toffee
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 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. Cinder toffee is a variant of honeycomb, created by cooking the sugar longer and often using specific traditional ingredients like golden syrup to produce a richer, more robustly caramelized flavor and a rustic, crunchy-and-chewy texture.fairy food candy or angel food candy in Wisconsinhokey pokey in New Zealandhoneycomb in South Africa, Australia, Britain, Ireland, Philippines, and Ohio, United Statesold fashioned puff in Massachusettspuff candy in Scotlandsponge candy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, St. Paul, Minnesota, Northwest Pennsylvania, and Western New York is typically covered in chocolate.sponge toffee in CanadaTurkish honey in HungaryIn various cultures
China
In China, it is called fēngwōtáng. 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 and is commonly sold at town fairs.Japan
The same confection is a traditional sweet in Japan known as, a portmanteau of the Portuguese word caramelo and the Japanese word yaki, 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.In Japan, raw egg whites are mixed with the baking soda to make the final product have a puffed up, dome shape.