I made a new purchase this week - one I've been meaning to buy for ages and never got round to for some reason or other, usually getting distracted by slightly shinier, jazzier things - a sugar thermometer. It's an indispensable addition to the sweet toothed cook's armoury.

I've been experimenting and have become completely addicted to cinder toffee, or honeycomb as it's more widely known. You'll probably have eaten it hundreds of times as a Crunchie bar but a home-made version is well worth a go with a slightly more grown-up, darker, caramel edge.

It's delicious dipped in chocolate, as part of Rocky road (with home-made marshmallows!),  scrunched over ice cream, or even better used as a topping sprinkled over icing on a cupcake.

It's quite a fun thing to make in the kitchen too, a bit of chemistry in the reaction between hot sugar and bicarbonate of soda.

Give this one a go and you'll be a convert - both to the fun and the flavour!

Click here for the cinder toffee recipe