AI-generated image
Ballycastle yellowman
Honeycomb toffee
Yellowman: golden honeycomb toffee from the Lammas Fair
Yellowman is the bright yellow, brittle honeycomb toffee hacked from great slabs at the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, County Antrim, at the end of every August, often eaten with dulse. Golden syrup, sugar and butter are boiled to the hard-crack stage and then foamed with bicarbonate of soda into a crunchy, airy toffee. Chef's tip: have the tin and the soda ready before you start; once it reaches temperature you have seconds.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- 7 oz granulated sugar
- 7 oz golden syrup
- ⅞ oz butter
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of sodasifted
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (1)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Butter a 20 cm square tin. Put the 7 oz granulated sugar, 7 oz golden syrup, ⅞ oz butter and 1 tbsp white vinegar in a large, deep pan (it foams up a lot).
3 minStep 2: Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves, then boil without stirring for 8–10 minutes, until it reaches 300°F on a sugar thermometer, or until a drop snaps cleanly in cold water. Take care: the syrup is extremely hot.
12 minStep 3: Take off the heat, tip in the 1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda and whisk for 5 seconds only. It will foam up. A common mistake is over-whisking, which knocks out the bubbles.
1 minStep 4: Pour straight into the tin and do not spread it. Leave until completely cold and hard, about 1 hour, then break into pieces. Keep airtight, as it softens in damp air.
60 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 130 kcal
- Protein
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 26 g
- Fat
- 3 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does ballycastle yellowman take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of granulated sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Kartoshka cakeCocoa and cake crumb truffles
Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.
Russian
Undu walaluFried urad dal rings in treacle
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
Baklava
The famous layered pastry: crisp sheets of buttered fillo sandwich a filling of almonds, pistachios and cashews spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. After baking, the hot baklava is soaked in a syrup of sugar, honey, lemon, rose and cardamom and decorated with almond and pistachio flakes. Cut into 40 diamonds; serve with fresh cream or ice cream.