Although I don’t strictly believe in New Year’s resolutions (why wait until the new year to change?), I guess you could say one of mine is to try and eat healthier this year. Eating healthily does not mean I can’t indulge in chocolates; on the contrary this week my recipe combines healthy eating with indulgences.
Not to mention, I personally save money when I buy fruits and veg and plan my meals because I avoid impulse buys – which are usually caused by thoughts like “I haven’t eaten that in ages”; “I forgot that this existed and that I mildly like it”; and “it’s in the Tesco clearance section!” (I still have soup that expired three days ago, which I purchased from Tesco because it was reduced to 40p).
If you have been following my recipes, even just looking at the pictures, you’ll know I love banana as a fruit and find it great to mix with flavours like chocolate. So surprise surprise, this week I decided to make a fun snack: banana dipped in melted milk chocolate and covered in homemade honeycomb or chopped nuts. Yes, they tasted amazing. If you don’t fancy using banana, try other fruits such as oranges (orange and chocolate is a classic combo) or strawberries. I was anxious about making honeycomb for the first time, but mine came out well enough and quenched my recurring Crunchie cravings.
It was incredibly messy when it came to dipping the bananas in the chocolate and then trying to decorate them, so I would highly recommend seeking out a pack of skewers if you can. It’s a great little snack to help you through January (which doesn’t have to be miserable!).
Ingredients: 4 Bananas, 10g Butter, 50g caster sugar, 1 ½ tablespoons of golden syrup, ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, 80g milk chocolate, handful of chopped nuts. To make the honeycomb, first grease a small tin with the butter. Then, mix the sugar and syrup in a saucepan, Gas Mark 3. Stir the mixture until the sugar has melted, lowering the heat if the mixture bubbles before the sugar grains have completely melted. Once the sugar has melted turn the heat up to Gas Mark 4 and let it simmer until you have an orange/amber-coloured caramel.
Switch the hob off, pour in the bicarbonate of soda, and mix with a spoon until the bicarbonate has disappeared. The mixture should be foaming. Scrape the honeycomb mixture into the tin. Leave the mixture for about 1 hour roughly. Your honeycomb should be hard but fine enough that you can crumble it. Break the honeycomb into little chunks, ready to cover the bananas later.
Crack the chocolate into small chunks and place them in a bowl. Then, microwave the chocolate for 30-60 seconds until it has melted. If you have skewers, pierce them through each banana and dip the bananas in the melted chocolate. Finally, sprinkle the bananas with honeycomb or nuts or anything else you fancy and then refrigerate them overnight to be enjoyed the next day. Remember to experiment with other toppings too!
Tesco Bananas Five Pack – £1, Tesco Everyday Value Milk Chocolate Bar 100g – 30p, Tesco Silver Spoon Caster Sugar 500g – 99p, Tesco Everyday Value Golden Syrup 680g – £1.18, Tesco Dr Oetker Bicarbonate Soda 200g – £1.29, Tesco Chopped Mixed Nuts 100g – 65p. Total cost: £5.41, Cost per serving: £1.60.