HONEYCOMB !!

Yeah! Honeycomb is my all time favourite sweet and I never have enough of it! I loved it since young when Violet Crumble was easily available, but ever since Violet Crumble exited Singapore, I can only get it through friends who visited Australia. Cadbury's Crunchie has it, but they are soooo tiny to my liking. I love big pieces!!!!

All thanks to Masterchef Australia's Masterclass, Chef Gary Mehigan revealed a very easy way to make our own honeycombs. So easy to make, you cannot believe it! My first attempt failed because I did not use the right syrup. So make sure you have the ingredients right!

HONEYCOMB

Ingredients

365g sugar

140g glucose

110ml water

1 tsp baking soda

Method

You must get ready everything before you start. Prepare your tray by placing a non-stick sheet on it. Measure out all your ingredients and get ready a wet brush and hand whisk.

1. In a 4 - 5 litre heavy pot (I used 7-L pot), boil sugar, glucose and water on medium-high flame till all sugar dissolve. You may swirl the pot during the process, and use a wet brush to brush down the sides of the pot to prevent sugar crystallization.

wet brush it down to prevent sugar forming at wall

2. Wait until you see a small tinge of yellow in the boiling mixture. The tinge of yellow may start only at a spot but that's what you do not want to miss. 

before the mixture has a yellow tinge

yellow tinge on top, cease fire!

 3. Quickly off the fire and start whisking hard while pouring in the baking soda. Once the soda is added, prepare to see an "eruption". Do not whisk too much, otherwise the air will escape. Just a few hard whisks will do.

Immediately after adding soda powder, lots of foam appear. Give about 3-4 hard whisks will do

4. Quickly pour into prepared tray and set aside for 45 min. (I did not wait that long for it to set!)

 5. Crush the candy and serve with coated chocolate or in ice cream. I just pop it straight into my mouth! Crunch! Crunch!

Note: Cleaning up is easy. Just soak everything in water, and rinse.

LADY SPONGE FINGERS

I came across a Chinese recipe book ... but I forgot the chef's name and book name! Sorry, I vaguely remember was something like "零失败做法" (meaning fail-proof methods). I copied the recipe in my own English translation as I take a longer moment to read Chinese :p

I tried two times already, and the second attempt gave a better result, although the first try did not fail either.

LADY SPONGE FINGERS

Ingredients

45g egg yolk

60g fine sugar

75g egg white

60g plain flour

Icing sugar for dusting

Methods

1. Prepare the baking tray with non-stick baking paper. 

2. Cream yolk and 2/3 fine sugar till very thick and fluffy.

3. In another clean and dry bowl, beat the white, gradually add remaining 1/3 fine sugar and beat till stiff.

4. Gently fold in 1/3 meringue to yellow batter till well combined.

5. Gently fold in remaining meringue to batter till well combined.

6. Sift plain flour into the batter and fold gently.

7. Place into a piping bag with a flat nozzle. (They will puff up during baking)

8. Pipe onto baking tray, and sift a layer of icing sugar on top.

9. Once the icing sugar is absorbed, repeat for another 2 times. (Dust generously for crispier biscuits). Please wait till the icing sugar is absorbed.

10. Preheat oven at 190C. Place tray into oven to bake for about 10 min or until golden brown.

11. Cool completely and carefully remove the fingers from the baking paper.

They can now be used to make your favourite desserts such as tiramisu and charlotte cake.

EASY HOMEMADE REAL FRUIT ICE CREAM

I had some fruit purees (strawberry and mango) left from trying out my first Charlotte Cake, and fruit purees freeze well for up to six months. It is good to buy the fruits while in season and relatively cheaper, then puree and freeze them for later use. Saves money!!

Since it's been four months plus freezing in my freezer, I thought it was a good time to turn them into ice cream. Homemade ice cream can be really non-hassle and requires no ice cream maker. Here is how I do them.

EASY HOMEMADE REAL FRUIT ICE CREAM

Ingredients

200g fruit puree*

Half can of Full Cream Condensed Milk

200g Whipping Cream

250g Thickened Cream

4-5 pieces of fruit, diced

Methods

1. In a container, stir in condensed milk into fruit puree till well combined.

2. Using a blender, blend whipping cream thick SLIGHTLY thickened.

3. Pour in thickened cream into blender, and whiz till creams become STIFF. (Do not over blend lest the creams separate)

4. Pour 1/3 of stiff cream into prepared fruit puree. Fold in gently until well combined.

a balloon whisk is an effective tool

5. Pour remaining cream into the fruit mixture. Fold in gently until well combined.

6. Gently stir in diced fruits. Do not worry if the diced fruits sink to the bottom.

7. Cover the container and place in freezer for about 3-4 hours. 

8. Remove ice cream from freezer. Using a fork, scrape, mesh, stir and mess up the ice cream until there is no more clumps. This action reduces crystallization. 

9. Put into freezer again and freeze till firm. (tip: give inside of lid a good wipe to remove moisture before re-freezing)

10. To enjoy, let ice cream stand in room temperature for 5-10 minutes before scooping.

Top with more diced fruits if you like

* To make fruit puree:

Cut up fruit of your choice and add 10% weight of sugar. You may add some lemon juice if the fruit oxidizes quickly. Blend for a minute. Let puree pass through a sieve, and use it immediately or freeze in a resealable plastic bag for future use.