What Is The Difference Between Honeycomb And Toffee?

Sometimes you just have to accept the sugary confection that's attached to your chocolate and not question it. Toffee, caramel, honeycomb — who cares? It's going into your mouth regardless. But, if you have ever been curious about that sweet, honey-colored candy, there are a few key differences. You can usually tell the difference by how they look, but at the level of preparation, it comes down to a few crucial ingredients, and slight differences in how they're combined (via Taste of Home).

First, honeycomb: we're not talking actual, bees-spent-time-in-it, honeycomb here. Raw, honey-filled honeycomb is delicious to eat — but honeycomb is also the name of a kind of airy, crispy confection that has large holes in it (to resemble real honeycomb), tastes like deep caramel and honey, and is often covered with chocolate. Yum. Toffee, on the other hand, is a more solid, candy-like treat that you'd find in a heath bar, or paired with nuts or candy in some brittle or bark — even crumbled up in ice cream. They might taste very similar, but they're different in look and feel.

If you've ever wondered what's actually in honeycomb or toffee, and want to make them at home, there's a few things to keep in mind. At its most basic level, toffee combines butter and sugar until the mixture reaches a certain temperature, and then is poured and sets. While it's hot, you can top it with chocolate or other add-ins. It is cooked until a "hard-crack" temperature, which just means how brittle the final product will be (or how likely it is you'll break a tooth on it) (via Taste of Home and the Web Restaurant Store).

Honeycomb, on the other hand, is just a little more involved. If you're a diehard Great British Baking Show fan (sugar work!), you might already know a little bit about it. The basics are sugar, corn-syrup or golden syrup, and baking soda. Some recipes also add in real honey but (gasp!) honeycomb isn't always made with honey (via the Spruce Eats and the Great British Bake-Off). The baking soda is key here, as it creates those glorious, crispy holes. It's made much life toffee though, except before you pour it to set, you just quickly mix in some baking soda and let it do its magic.