Homemade Honeycomb and Warm Sausage Rolls

There’s nothing quite like your first homemade batch of honeycomb! If you share the experience with your children it will become one of those wonderful family memories and perhaps the start of a tradition.

Honeycomb, in all its golden, syrupy glory, is a treat or a dessert topping. It’s made from sugar, golden syrup and bicarbonate of soda and takes around 3 minutes to cook, then a couple of hours to set (overnight is best). Children of all ages will love to break it up into shards of unique shapes and sizes.

Try serving on top of sorbet or ice cream for a different tasting dessert, dip chunks into melted dark chocolate for a decadent treat or use as a decorative topping on fairy cakes with butter cream icing.

To make this batch of honeycomb I used Nigella’s recipe which you can find here: Honeycomb Recipe

Have you ever made your own sausage rolls? The British LOVE sausage rolls…hot, fresh ones straight from the bakery or trays of little ones at children’s parties. The trouble is, pastry is fattening (it contains wheat flour and butter) and the quality of sausage meat used in most mass-produced rolls leaves a lot to be desired!

With Halloween and cold autumn evenings approaching, homemade sausage rolls can make a great change for an evening meal, served alongside a delicious winter vegetable soup. My recipe uses only three ingredients, making it relatively cheap and easy to buy, and takes less than half an hour to prepare and bake.

I source the best quality Cumberland sausages from my local farm shop butcher, which are as close to 100% meat as you can get. For this batch I used a well-known brand of frozen puff pastry which I defrosted for 90 minutes at room temperature while I made lunch and did (a little) housework! The third ingredient is a single egg, used for brushing the pastry so it sticks together and to ensure the pastry has a golden finish all over.

Today, I followed the basics of Jamie Oliver’s recipe (except I didn’t mix the sausage meat with any other ingredients, I simply took the skins off and laid the sausages on the pastry before brushing with egg and rolling up.) To see the method, click here: Jamie Oliver Sausage Rolls

I made them just before school pick up so they were warm and delicious when my children returned home. My youngest daughter managed to eat five of them – so I take that as a success!!

To make a delicious winter vegetable soup, you can find my recipe here: Lorraine’s Carrot & Coriander Soup

Remember that if you’re trying to lose weight or eat more healthily then foods like sausage rolls and honeycomb contain sugar, fat and salt. They are perfectly acceptable as part of a balanced diet but should be eaten occasionally and in moderation.

I hope this post has inspired you to start making your own treats instead of buying less-than-delicious processed supermarket products. Once you’ve tried homemade versions I guarantee you’ll never go back!

I look forward to hearing your comments.

Lorraine