I did the Hokey Pokey

I'm a fan of Nigella Lawson for her quick easy way of cooking. After watching her make this sweet snack, I wanted to try it right away. As usual I always tend to make half of a recipe first when I'm not familiar with it (saves me some ingredients if it doesnt work). I was aware that I'm not really crazy for hard candy or anything that is similar to this, though I was very attracted to the process that was more like a chemical experiment rather than a candy recipe.

I used 50g of caster sugar, 2 tablespoon of runny honey(hard to get golden syrup here in Germany) and about 3/4 of a teaspoon baking soda. Here's the original recipe. I put the sugar and the runny honey in a small pot, on heat until it becomes golden and bubbling. Off the heat, I quickly whisk in the baking soda and you will immediately get a gold coloured foam. Pour it on a baking parchment and leave it to hardened for 15-20 minutes.

This is how it looks like while hardening. Then I use an knife to break them to pieces (Nigella used a hammer..haha).

This is after the breaking of the Hokey Pokey. Its got the beehive texture and literally sticks to your teeth but melts after that. Very sweet, sticky and a little bitter, I probably caramelized the sugar for a tad bit long. Not really my thing but mamak said it tasted like cotton candy. I left it overnight, the sugars melted and the Hokey Pokey pieces stuck to each other. Is it because I used honey instead of corn syrup? Well, I had to throw them away.

I guess it a fun to make, especially with children. Freshly eaten its really crispy and sweet, but its not the kind of thing you want to store in your candy stash.

I call it a little edible science project.