Yes, that’s right, Honeycomb Cheesecake with a touch of caramel!

This week, my friend requested a Honeycomb Cheesecake, so I put my big girl pants on and gave it a whirl. I have an irrational fear when it comes to sugar work, but after watching an episode of Come Dine With Me the contestant made it look super easy.

However, when the pan hit the stove top those fears came rushing back, which meant I ended up having a couple of goes at it. My first attempt, I bottled it and took the caramel off the heat too soon, resulting in a sticky mess. Undeterred I gave it another shot, it seemed to work fine this time, but it fell flat in the tin. It still snapped and as I was only using it for decoration, thin shards worked in my favour. I did a little googling and found out where I was going wrong, you need to use fresh bicarbonate soda. Your three month old bicarbonate soda won’t create maximum foaming power to form that melt in the mouth crisp honeycomb.

If, like me, you are terrified of sugar work then do not panic, for the filling I used Belgium chocolate coated honeycomb that I purchased in Marks & Spencer’s. Instead of making honeycomb for decoration you could break up a couple of Crunchie Bars. To make this beehive of deliciousness you will need a lined 6 1/2 inch loose-bottom tin, a well lined baking tray and some bubble wrap.

Ingredients

For base:

150 grams of caramel digestive biscuits / graham crackers

25 grams of unsalted butter, melted

For filling:

400 grams of soft cheese / cream cheese

50 grams of icing sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

300 ml of double cream

50 grams of creme fraiche

80 grams of Belgium chocolate coated honey comb (I bought mine from Marks & Spencer’s) or 4 crunchie bars chopped

For decoration:

100 grams of white chocolate, melted

2 tbsp of caramel (I used tinned caramel)

80 grams of unsalted butter

80 grams of golden syrup

160 grams of caster sugar

2 tsp of fresh bicarbonate soda

Method

Step 1: Place the caramel digestive biscuits in a food processor and blitz into a fine crumb. Next, add the melted butter and blitz again until thoroughly combined. Pour the buttery biscuit crumb into your prepared tin, use the back of a teaspoon to pack the biscuits down. Once the biscuits cover the base of your tin, pop it in the fridge, whilst you make the filling.

Step 2: Put the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla into your mixer, using the whisk attachment, mix on a medium-low speed. Place a tea towel over the top of your mixer to stop a cloud of icing sugar engulfing your kitchen. Once that is thoroughly mixed, add the double cream and creme fraiche, and mix on a medium-high until the mixture thickens. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chocolate honeycomb, using a spatula. When the mixture is thick enough to hold itself, remove the tin from the fridge and pour in the filling. Place back in the fridge for four hours or overnight.

Step 3: When the cheesecake has set, remove it from tin. To make the honeycomb-esque white chocolate collar, you will need to cut bubble wrap to the same height as your cheesecake. Then wrap it round your cheesecake and cut it to the right length.

Peel it back off your cheesecake and place it on your counter, bubble side up. Pour the melted chocolate over the bubble wrap, use a pallet knife to smooth the chocolate all over the bubble wrap.

Next, wrap it around the cheesecake, with the chocolate side touching the cheesecake.

Place in the fridge for one hour to set. Once it has set peel the bubble wrap off the chocolate. And you have an easy chocolate collar.

Step 4: Place the caramel in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 10 seconds. Mix until all the lumps have gone, then spread it over the top of your cheesecake using a pallet knife. Put it back in the fridge whilst you make the honeycomb.

Step 5: Now the scary part 😁 Making the honeycomb. I used the crunchy honey comb recipe by SORTEDfood if you follow the link there is also a video which shows you how to do it. Once you place the mixture on the heat do not stir!!! Only swirling the pan is permitted. Put the butter, golden syrup and sugar in a tall saucepan, and place over a low heat until completely melted. Turn up the heat and boil quickly, it will start to form large bubbles, this is why you need to use a deep pan. Boil until it is an Amber colour (the colour of maple syrup.) Once the caramel is golden in colour remove it from the heat, let the bubbles die down a bit, then add the bicarbonate soda and whisk quickly, poor immediately onto your prepared baking tray. Leave to cool until it is completely set. Then smash it into pieces and place on top of your cheesecake.

I hope you enjoy this super fun recipe as much as I did, and remember honey comb is difficult to make, so don’t be deterred! Alternatively you can decorate it with Crunchie bars.

Enjoy

B x

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