Making Honeycomb – Exploring Bi-Carbonate Soda

After making our Homemade Volcano and watching the excitement on my kids’ faces as the vinegar and bicarbonate soda reacted together, I thought I would extend the fun, fizzing and frothing into the kitchen by making some simple homemade honeycomb.

What you will need?

You will need a large saucepan and baking tray.

The ingredients are:

1 Cup White Sugar

¼ Cup Golden Syrup

3 Tablespoons Water

2 Teaspoons Bicarbonate Soda

Let’s Play

Combine the sugar, golden syrup and water into the saucepan and place onto the stove to heat and dissolve the mixture. Bring the mixture to boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.

Let’s Discover

The fun and exciting part:  Remove from the heat and add the bicarbonate soda and mix it through carefully.  Be careful the mixture is very hot!  The mixture will increase in size, do not over mix.

Let’s Learn

Pour the mixture into the tin to cool and refrigerate.

To take a closer look at the Honeycomb there are numerous bubbles, some really small and others much bigger.  Some of the bubbles can be seen in the photos that have popped.  They are also noticeable when you cut the honeycomb up into pieces for eating.

The Reaction Explained

The acid in the vinegar (golden syrup) reacts with the sodium bicarbonate in baking soda to form an unstable carbonic acid which breaks down and creates carbon dioxide.  The bubbles that you see from the reaction are the carbon dioxide escaping the solution that is left.  Carbon dioxide is heavier than air so it overflows the container and makes the solution appear to be doubling in size.

Download and print a copy of the recipe here: Printable Honeycomb Recipe