Chocolate Ice Cream with Homemade Honeycomb

Being a keen baker and consumer of all things sweet, I managed to nab my parents’ ice cream machine a couple of years ago. When I first got it I went sufficiently nuts creating far too much ice cream in a short space of time for any sane individual to consume. I may have been slightly ice-creamed out as I haven’t made any since then..about a year ago! Maybe it has something to do with it finally being summer, so I am slightly more inclined to snack on something cold.

I’ve also been meaning to make honeycomb from scratch for a while now too so I figured I may as well kill two birds with one stone!*

I found the honeycomb recipe here.

Chocolate and Honeycomb Ice Cream

Homemade Honeycomb

Ingredients:

• 100g caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons bicarb soda

Method:

1. Line a baking tray with greaseproof baking paper
2. Melt the caster sugar and golden syrup together in a saucepan over medium heat
3. Swirl the pan occasionally until the sugar dissolves (don’t stir with a spoon otherwise it will go grainy)
4. Let the mixture come to a boil and develop a deep golden brown colour (not too dark though, or it will taste burnt)
5. Take mixture off the heat and immediately add the bicarb soda
6. Mix thoroughly with silicone or metal spoon until combined – it will bubble and froth and expand in size and resemble foam
7. Pour straight into lined tray
8. Let it sit on the bench until set (mine took 20 minutes but it may take longer if your kitchen is humid – or you could pop it in the fridge for a while to firm up)
9. Once set, break up into desired size pieces (I crumbled mine into fairly small pieces for the ice cream)
10. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place – any moisture will cause the honeycomb to become soft

have your bicarb soda measured and ready to throw into the pot as soon as your mixture is ready

i let my mixture get slightly darker than this before removing from heat

the mixture should foam up like this once the bicarb soda is added

it's hard to get the mixture to sit nicely, but don't worry - it will set and then you can break it up into bite size pieces

honeycomb crumbled and ready to be added to the ice cream!

 

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (dutch process preferred)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups full cream milk
• 3 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup of honeycomb (optional)

Method:

1. Place the cocoa and sugars in a medium bowl
2. Stir to combine
3. Add the milk
4. Mix on low speed or whisk to combine until the cocoas and sugars are dissolved (1-2 minutes)
5. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla
6. Pour into ice cream machine and follow directions from manufacturer
7. Add in 1 cup of honeycomb about 5 minutes before the mixture is done
8. Transfer mixture into airtight container and store in freezer
9. You may have to let ice cream soften for 15 minutes before serving
10. Sprinkle excess honeycomb over ice-cream before serving

adding the honeycomb to the ice cream mixture

Please be advised that success with the honeycomb requires a cool temperature and good quality ingredients. A lot can go wrong with it otherwise. Make sure there is no humidity, that you are using good quality bicarb soda (McKenzies brand is recommended) that is not too old and that you let the golden syrup and caster sugar boil for long enough to achieve the deep golden colour, but not too long so as to burn the mixture. If you have any troubles, remember what you did and feel free to ask where you went wrong.

Good luck!

Eleanor x

*no birds were harmed in the making of this ice cream 🙂