Try this Honey, I Shrunk the Comb recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 136.483203208379 g
- Cholesterol 5218.19855520233 mg
- Fat 168.842091232477 g
- Fiber 6.40800024271011 g
- Protein 72.3947612765075 g
- Saturated Fat 75.6239495440555 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (897g)
- Sodium 583.63636389649 mg
- Sugar 130.075202965669 g
- Trans Fat 9.72580442976518 g
- Calories 2334 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 220c/425f/Gas 7.
- Place the honeycomb in a roasting tin with a few sprigs of tarragon and mint and cook in the oven until the honeycomb has melted.
- Heat the caster sugar in a pan until melted, then increase the heat and cook until the sugar turns to caramel. Put the bottom of the pan into a bowl of cold water to stop from cooking further.
- Use a fork to drizzle fine strands of the caramel over a knife sharpening steel. Scrunch the sugar strands up to make a nest. With a fork, spin slightly thicker strands of sugar around the steel to make springs, carefully remove and allow to cool.
- Peel and dice one apple. Heat a wok, add 15g/ 1/2oz butter, diced apple and 2 tbsp honey and cook until the apple begins to caramelise.
- Core the remaining apple and scoop out some of the centre using a melon baller. Pour half of the melted honeycomb into a pan, add the apples balls and cook until caramelised.
- Line a small bowl with clingfilm, cut two doughnuts into four slices each and use to line the bowl.
- Pour in the remaining melted honeycomb and spoon on the apple. Pack down firmly using the back of a spoon and turn out onto a plate. Decorate with the honey apple balls and sugar springs. Serve the remaining doughnuts with spoonfuls of cream cheese.
- For the Apple Cobbler: Heat 15g/ 1/2oz butter in a pan with 85g/3oz blueberries, a few sprigs of tarragon and a pinch of allspice. Place the hollowed out apple in a gratin dish and spoon in the blackberry mixture.
- Rub 25g/1oz butter into the flour to make crumbs and stir in 1/2 tbsp demerara sugar and 1 tbsp cream to make a dough. Roll out on a floured worksurface and cut out a circle just big enough to cover the top of the apple.
- Place the disc on top of the apple, sprinkle over 1 tbsp demerara sugar and dot 15g/ 1/2oz butter on top. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the topping is cooked and golden brown and the apple is tender.
- Place the remaining blueberries in a mini food processor with the red wine and a few mint leaves and blitz until smooth.
- For the Creme Anglaise: Heat the remaining cream, milk and a few tarragon leaves in a pan. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually mix in the cream and milk mixture.
- Pour the mixture back into the pan and heat, stirring continuously, until thickened.
- Carefully transfer the filled apple onto a plate, sit the sugar nest on top and drizzle the blackberry sauce and creme anglaise around the edge of the plate.
Most home cooks fail with intricate plated desserts because they treat dried or preserved pantry items identically to fresh produce. Using raw orchard fruit instead of canned pie filling changes the moisture release entirely, requiring precise heat management in a wok to prevent scorching before the cellular walls soften. Fresh herbs like tarragon and mint yield volatile aromatic oils that degrade rapidly under high heat, whereas dried equivalents demand much longer steeping times to extract flavor.
Controlling Sugar Transformations
Caramelization requires undivided attention once the caster sugar liquefies in the pan. Plunging the base of the pan into cold water halts residual heat conduction instantly, preventing bitter burnt notes from ruining the batch. Pulling fine strands of sugar over a steel rod demands molten temperatures between 160°C and 170°C; if the syrup drops below this window, it will harden into brittle chunks rather than pliable springs or nests.Managing Multi-Tasking Workflow
Executing multiple components simultaneously—from spinning sugar to baking an apple cobbler at 220°C—requires strict spatial awareness in a compact workspace. Tempering hot cream and milk into beaten egg yolks must happen in a thin, continuous stream while whisking vigorously; otherwise, the direct thermal shock will curdle the proteins instantly. Strain the finished crème anglaise through a fine-mesh sieve immediately to catch any stray bits of cooked egg before plating.
