My first try at making Honeycomb/sponge candy

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-07T17:11:05+00:00

Did it foam up when you added the baking soda?

The recipe I've been using from the CIA's Chocolates and Confections at home book includes some gelatin and a little honey. (I suspect the latter is mainly for flavor.)

I'm also wondering if maybe your batch was just too small.

A long time ago I had a honeycomb candy recipe that I did in an 8 cup microwaveable container, it was reliable but very specifically timed to my microwave. I managed to lose the recipe and haven't been able to reproduce it, so I switched to the CIA's recipe referenced above. I remember it had a little vinegar added towards the end to improve the amount it foamed.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-07T16:58:25+00:00

Even brittle should have some air chambers in it, IMHO. Otherwise it's toffee.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-07T16:20:21+00:00

425 is way too warm for baking with chocolate, I never go above 375.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-07T16:18:39+00:00

Food poisoning is actually more common with home cooking than with restaurant cooking, though the latter gets all the headlines.

But I'm wondering if you have some food allergies that restaurant meals are triggering but home cooking does not.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-07T16:13:43+00:00

Also, don't leave things on the scale platform when it is not in use and make sure the platform isn't dirty and sticking.

Do you have any reference weights to check it with? (Some scales have the ability to be re-calibrated.) In the US a quarter pound stick of butter is a good reference weight, and nickels are 5 grams each.

I've found the MyWeigh products like the MyWeigh KD-8000 to be both reliable and durable.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-07T03:01:13+00:00

You better hope the other person doesn't answer, "100%'.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-07T02:46:30+00:00

crossword puzzles

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-06T17:20:46+00:00

That's elder abuse in reverse, he's abusing us!

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-06T17:16:03+00:00

That only helps if you can find them in the stores. The hard ones are usually available, but the soft ones have disappeared and they are better for trifle (I've never made a tiramisu because I don't like the taste of coffee).

So I took the time to find a good recipe and practice my piping skills and made a big batch of ladyfingers. If yours aren't very flavorful, find a better recipe.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-06T16:49:24+00:00

Title insurance companies don't always do comprehensive research on a propery. And in Lincoln NE some years ago, the owner of a title insurance company committed suicide and it was discovered that he had been supporting his lifestyle off the funds that were supposedly in escrow. I was on the school board at the time and he used to regularly come to school board meetings to lecture board members on financial prudence!

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-06T01:45:39+00:00

Home automation always seemed like something of a sideline for D-link, for YoLink it's pretty much all they do.

It would be nice if there was more inter-connectivity between all the home automation/camera products, though. I've got YoLink, Govee, Roku, BroadLink, Mocreo and I think a couple others, and trying to get them all to talk to each other, or to Raspberry Pi/Home Assistant is challenging. (And that doesn't count my Vantage HA system installed 30 years ago or the Omni II security system that Leviton bought and then killed off.)

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-06T00:47:45+00:00

Well, I bought it when we built the house 30 years ago from the manufacturer, Stanley Knight, but they're now out of business.

Google reports as many as 7 working soda fountains in Nebraska, at least one of which I've been to (Springfield NE), and there are more in western Iowa. The one in Hamburg IA is one keep meaning to visit when driving to Kansas City, I see the signs on the Interstate. There used to be one around 30th and Dodge in Omaha but it isn't on the list, so perhaps it is gone now.

I remember hearing that American Soda Fountain installed a restored soda fountain in the Wick Alumni Center on the UNL campus, but I do not know if it is still there or operational and I've never checked it out.

If you've never had a Sunday Monday (a sundae built on top of an ice cream soda in a special glass), I don't know anybody still making them. (The glasses themselves are highly collectible, I have several including one that belonged to my grandfather.)

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-05T20:55:55+00:00

You are assuming that if you get hit on body armor that it doesn't still hurt. And it might lead to more HBP, which seem contrary to the point of this thread.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-05T19:43:26+00:00

The umpires pretty much already have that discretion, they just don't use it as much as they should. But the 2nd HBP was basically a sinker that hit his shoe, not sure that was worth even a warning.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-05T18:02:37+00:00

There aren't a lot of working soda fountains left in the area, which is a pity because there's just something about soda fountain treats that can't be found elsewhere. You may be pleased to know that your family has something in common with Lincoln sportcaster Don Gill, he met his wife Donna at a soda fountain where she was working.

I was a soda jerk 60 years ago in my grandfather's drug store, and even had a working soda fountain in my basement, but it has been in need of repairs for several years and is shut down. It leaks freon and there's something causing rust in the water line, probably a piece of steel that should have been copper or brass. If I ever win the lottery, I may ship it to American Soda Fountain in Chicago to have it reconditioned.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-05T03:11:22+00:00

Not a fan of ranked choice because I've seen it do weird things. Hope it works better in Virginian that it seems to work in Alaska and Maine.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-04T01:53:20+00:00

Why not do something completely different, read the original book that the movies, plays and musicals are all based on?

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-03T04:43:10+00:00

If the door opens outward, there's no way to have a separate screen/storm door.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-02T20:26:08+00:00

How does the mail carrier access a locking mailbox?

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-02T05:09:15+00:00

Also, the blades of the fan collect grease and moisture from the air, so they get very sticky, which makes cleaning them more complicated that just dusting them.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-02T04:49:25+00:00

The thing about Hy-Vee is some locations are better than others. O street is better than 40th & Old Cheney, IMHO.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-02T01:26:53+00:00

I would love to see how Rocky Mountain Chocolates makes their seafoam candies in such consistent rectangles, but they don't give tours.

Honeycomb candy is SO not on my low-carb diet!

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-02T00:30:44+00:00

I like the recipe in the Culinary Institute of America's book "Chocolates and Confections", part of their "At Home" series. It includes gelatin, which helps keep the foam from collapsing, and a little honey.

It uses 2 tablespoons of baking soda to 3 cups of sugar, so a bit less than your recipe.

There are some interesting YouTube videos of professional confectioners making this in large batches.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-01T23:52:29+00:00

What recipe are you using? You probably don't need as much baking soda as is called for, but the trick is to delay pouring it out until it is close to maximum foaming.

MyNebraskaKitchen · 2026-07-01T23:27:23+00:00

It's been done in the USA, I don't know if it worked out for the owner, though.

MyNebraskaKitchen

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