We’re raving fans of Dunedin and its impressive food scene. We’ve lavished praise on its scones and soufflés, extolled the virtues of its bagels and bombe Alaska and written sonnets of salivating praise on everything from its dumplings to its degustation dining. But sometimes in our excitement we forget the obvious and inescapable, and in this case, that is that Dunedinites, and Kiwis in general, appear to have a national fixation with Hokey Pokey (AKA honeycomb).
From straight up slabs to chunks of the stuff smashed into biscuits, chocolate and desserts to hokey-pokey infused ice cream, which Kiwis are said to gobble down two million litres of a year, the sweet stuff is everywhere. And Raffles and Sugarpuff want a piece of the Hokey Pokey action.
So being the soft touch that I am (and kind of wanting some myself) I acquiesced.
But further inspired by our favourite Dunedin flavours, I decided to whip up a walnut–infused version, horrifying my honeycomb purist husband… at least until he tasted it.
Turns out my Choc Walnut Hokey Pokey is his new fave thing. In fact, he and the kids have already got me whipping up my fifth batch, so I must be on to something! Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients
- 200g caster sugar
- 75ml golden syrup
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 100g chopped walnuts
- 250gm dark chocolate
Instructions
- Line a baking tray with baking paper
- Place sugar and golden syrup in a deep saucepan and mix well.
- Place pan on a low heat until the sugar grains have melted. Do not stir the mixture while the pan on the heat.
- Once completely melted, turn up the heat a little and bubble until the mixture turns the colour of maple syrup.
- As soon as it reaches the desired colour, toss in the walnuts and stir for a few seconds to infuse the nutty flavor through the syrup.
- Turn off the heat, add the bicarbonate of soda and stir through quickl
- Pour mixture onto the prepared tray to cool for an hour, then crack into chunks.
- Melt the chocolate in 30 second increments in a bowl in a microwave until smooth.
- Dip honeycomb into chocolate and set aside to cool.
- Keep finished honeycomb in an airtight container (if you don’t eat it all first)
An award-winning travel writer and photographer, Aleney de Winter was fresh from school when she first set off to explore the far reaches of Australia with a two-man tent and a beaten-up Kingswood for company. Three decades, and two kids later, and she's still on the go, with her itchy-footed offspring in tow. 