Matcha Mousse with Honeycomb

I have a lot of pet peeves. Most of them are the typical ones that I think a lot of people have - I can't stand people who can't figure out the difference to between you're and your (this seems to be a disease spreading rapidly through the pointless fan pages of Facebook). I cringe at people who drag their feet across the ground rather than picking them up and taking proper steps. I contemplate bloody murder when someone attempts to blast their awful music from the tinny speakers on their mobile phone, subjecting the rest of the train/bus/waiting room to their bad taste. I'm sure there any many others but then this post would get reeeeeally long.

One of my pet peeves in the kitchen is watching leftover baking ingredients go bad. I somehow always end up with a little bit of cream, or a couple of egg yolks sitting sadly in my fridge, begging me not to waste them. And it happens SO often, because there are just days where I will have complete mind blanks when it comes to thinking of a good, quick recipe to use them up. Luckily for me, a good recipe came to mind the other day.

Of course, as soon as I thought of what I wanted to make, I realised I was missing a key ingredient and had to run down to the petrol station in the rain to grab it, but it was totally worth it. Half an hour later I had whipped up these dreamy green tea & white chocolate mousses, using up the extra cream and egg whites I had sitting in my fridge (after using up more of the cream and egg yolks to make carbonara for dinner that night, YUM).

I decided to make some homemade honeycomb to go with it, which had the perfect crunchy texture to go with this light, fluffy mousse. Crunchy bubbles versus soft bubbles. Plus the sweetness from the honeycomb was just what was needed to balance out the slight bitterness from the matcha. In case you haven't noticed, I've had a little bit of an obsession with candy recently, making marshmallows and lollipops. I've always wanted to make honeycomb, and this recipe worked out pretty well. The honeycomb was golden, bubbly and super crunchy, though like any honeycomb after you eat it for a little while it sticks to your teeth like crazy! Even so, I ate SO much of it. Anyway, this dessert had my sugar cravings satisfied and had the added bonus of using up my extra cream :)

Matcha White Chocolate Mousse with Homemade Honeycomb
(adapted this white choc mousse recipe from bill's food and this honeycomb recipe from Best Recipes, serves approx 6)
For the green tea mousse:
250g white chocolate
80ml milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, separated
375ml pouring cream
1-2 tsp matcha (green tea) powder, adjusted to taste

For the honeycomb:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup golden syrup
1/3 cup water
2 tsp bicarb soda, sifted

Line a medium cake tin with baking paper, I used a 28 x 18 slice tin but a 20cm square tin would work as well. Place white chocolate, milk and vanilla in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Heat until the chocolate is just melted, stirring regularly. Cool for 5 minutes, then beat in egg yolks one at a time until well combined. When beating in the last egg, add matcha powder. (Adjust amount of matcha depending on how strong you want it to be, I like mine strong)

Whip cream to soft peaks in a separate bowl, and then gently fold into warm mixture until just combined. In a separate clean large mixing bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold in the rest of the mixture into the egg whites until just combined, and then pour into serving glasses. Chill for 3-4 hours or overnight in the fridge.

For the honeycomb, place golden syrup, sugar and water in a heavy based pan with high sides with a sugar thermometer, and place on low heat. Stir continuously until the sugar dissolves completely and the mixture boils. Increase the heat until the mixture reaches 132 degrees C, and then maintain this temperature for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, until most of the larger bubbles have disappeared.

Quickly beat in bicarb soda into mixture with a wooden spoon, the mixture should froth up quickly. Pour mixture into prepared tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove from tin and line all sides with extra baking paper, wrap in a kitchen towel and gently break up into smaller pieces using a rolling pin. Serve over the top of matcha mousse, with extra pieces on the side.