Honeycomb
Honeycomb
Where too much is barely enough. Makes only one 20 × 20 cm (8 × 8 in) slab
I once worked at Arpège for the mercurial M. Alain Passard. His mille-feuille was the reason I wanted to work there. Lighter than any puff pastry I’d ever had, it was like eating a block of crunchy bubbles. One of the secrets was to cut away most of the exterior to leave the caramelised honeycombed interior. It was this idea that I wanted to achieve with this confection. It took Lauren, pastry chef at Marque, and me some weeks to achieve the result. The recipe was everyday but it turns out, like everything else extraordinary, the secret was the sum of many tiny details.
18 g (3⁄4 oz) bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
150 g (51⁄2 oz) liquid glucose
65 g (21⁄4 oz) honey
415 g (141⁄2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
Line a 20 × 20 × 5 cm (8 × 8 × 2 in) baking tin with baking paper and warm it in a 100°C (210°F) oven.
Sift the bicarbonate of soda into a small bowl and set aside.
Put the glucose, honey, sugar and 75 ml (21⁄2 fl oz) water in a large, deep, heavy- based saucepan and stir to combine. Wipe the side of the saucepan with a wet pastry brush to prevent any sugar from sticking to the side and burning.
Turn the heat to medium – once the pan is on the heat, do not stir the sugar mixture as it will crystallise.
Bring the mixture to 155°C (310°F) using the services of a good digital thermometer
Remove the pan from the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda all at once.
Whisk quickly but thoroughly, ensuring the bicarbonate of soda is evenly dispersed through the sugar syrup. The mixture will instantly start to rise, but do not panic – whisk a little longer.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. The honeycomb will rise rapidly in the tin before setting. Do not move the tin before the honeycomb has had a chance to cool and set or the volume will disappoint.
Leave to cool for 1 hour minimum to achieve a hard-crack texture. Use a large serrated bread knife to remove the smooth outer layer and leave the aerated centre.