Crunchie bars are one of our absolute favorite British candies. Called Violet Crumbles in Australia, these are airy bars of caramel-like "honey comb" coated with a thin layer of chocolate. So far our addiction has been limited by the availability of the candy bar here in the states - but no longer!
We had no idea that this candy would be so easy to make! Well...sorta.
All it takes to make the honey comb part is boiling sugar, corn syrup, and honey until they're a light amber color (or 300° if you want to get technical about it!). This was actually much easier than other candy-making we've done. It was very easy to gauge when to stop cooking, even without a candy thermometer.
And then you add the baking soda...
Goodness gracious, does this stuff bubble up! If you make this, definitely use the biggest pot you have - at least a 6-quart one. We didn't quite know what "quadruple in size" really meant and then watched our concoction inched ever closer to the rim of the pot while we stirred as hard and fast as we possibly could!
Alls well that ends well, though. We got the mixture poured out on a silpat (definitely use some sort of silpat for this) and it set up beautifully.
We wanted to get as close to the real thing as we could, so we broke the main blob into several pieces and then used a serrated knife to saw/crack the candy into bar shapes. Then we melted some chocolate and dipped in each bar to coat. Perfect! The bars had a deep caramelized honey flavor with that signature airy-crunchy bite, and the dark chocolate made the perfect contrast.
Coating the bars in chocolate had the double effect of making them even more delicious and also protecting them from melting. The few pieces of uncoated candy that were left behind quickly absorbed moisture from the air and melted into a sticky mess within a day. The coated bars lasted for a few weeks and stayed nicely crunchy!
All in all, a very successful candy-making adventure. We definitely got our Crunchie Bar fix - and then some!
Get the Recipe: Honeycomb (a la Crunchies and Violet Crumbles) from the Seattlest
Related: Recipe: Caramel Popcorn
(Images: Emma Christensen)
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I haven't had a Violet Crumble in so long! I used to eat them all the time! This is a genius idea to make it yourself:)
Sponge Toffee!!! You can get almost brick sized pieces of it in many Canadian stores.
I'd have never thought to make it at home though, that's great since its best super fresh.
Is this the same thing as seafoam? Or a different candy altogether? Love seafoam!
I made sponge candy for Christmas. I was crazy easy. Dh and the kids loved it but it's not really my cup of tea. Will try dipping in chocolate next time.
awesome! and to think -- crunchies are $1.59 each at the local britorium.
I adore sponge candy. I never dreamed is was that easy to make!!
My mom always called this Fairy Food! ITS SOOO GOOD!
Charlita, I think it's the same thing as seafoam. We always called seafoam honeycomb at any rate.
I do adore this stuff if it is. Yummy.
In the name of all that is good and toothless...my dentist thanks you. Crunchie is in my top 5 fave choccie bars ever.
saer
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Nigella calls it Hokey Pokey. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/hokey-pokey-recipe/index.html
So good and so easy.
I eat a lot of Crunchie bars while growing up in Canada. Thanks for the memories.
Hm, I wonder if you can do this with another kind of syrup instead of honey, like brown rice or agave nectar. maple even would be awesome, come to think of it. Maybe brown rice syrup could replace the corn syrup altogether? Will have to experiment...
Charlita - Yes, this is the same as seafoam.
I'm so excited to see a recipe for this on here, I studied abroad in New Zealand and it's called Hokey Pokey there. Probably my favorite treat ever!
virtualjess - I would guess so; for christmas this year I made Ginger Molasses sponge toffee and it was awesome! The site with the recipe seems to be down now, but iirc it used molasses as the primary syrup.
Sponge Toffee! My dad used to make this in the microwave when I was young :) So Yummy!
The words "used to make this in the microwave when I was young" made me feel OLD.
Mmm. Sponge candy. It is very popular here (in western NY). All the local candy and chocolate stores make it.
Mmm, I adore this stuff - we call it Cinder Toffee in the UK. It's not at all the same as a Crunchie bar, thank goodness - far less sweet and sickly. Best dipped in chocolate :-)
The seafoam of my childhood was made at Christmas time. It was a kind of meringue with pecans in it.
This looks interesting.
I don't think it's the same as seafoam - seafoam definitely has some egg whites in it, as well.
Also, let me just say, if you've got a Cost Plus World Market anywhere nearby, they carry Violet Crumbles and Crunchie bars. (In my opinion, the Violet Crumble is superior - better ratio of chocolate to honeycomb.)
Do you think an electric knife would work well on this?
Yum! We had Violet Crumbles in the bookstore at my college (Northern California) but I haven't seen them anywhere else. So delicious!
i tried this a couple of months ago on a whim. it was easy and oh so good!! but only for the first piece or two. it's just not a candy you can eat a whole lot of. my advice, make it for a party! everyone will be impressed and you won't have leftovers. more advice do the chocolate dip! crunchie-yum!
to acvaz: i don't think an electric knife would be good--i imagine shards flying every where. maybe you could drop it in blobs somehow. i just cracked it and dealt with the irregular pieces.
Thank you to poster gildeddawn for mentioning Cost Plus World Market. Now, I can find out what everybody's buzzing about.
Crunchies and Violet Crumbles, whilst similar are not the same thing. They are two different brands, both available in Australia, but with different tastes. Crunchies have a more airy honeycomb, the kind that melts in your mouth whilst Violet Crumbles are more dense in terms of honeycomb and the chocolate tastes different.
Sponge candy is the best! It can be purchased online from my hometown in Erie, PA:
http://www.romolochocolates.com/
I had trouble with the recipe. It turned out overly sticky and wayyy too sweet.
Tried this recipe instead and got a much better result:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/honeycomb-candy-recipe/index.html
Street vendors sell this everywhere in Korea! My parents used to tell stories about eating this on the way home from school, and about the grandfathers who would peddle little stoves to make this for kids in Seoul :D My parents make it us at home now--always a classic :P
I loved this a kid (still do!) and recently made it at home with great results!!
http://impeccabletasty.blogspot.com/2010/12/sponge-taffy.html