Hokey pokey ice cream: New Zealand's favourite flavour explained
Hokey pokey ice cream is vanilla ice cream with small, crunchy pieces of honeycomb toffee, and it is a genuine New Zealand classic. "Hokey pokey" is simply the Kiwi word for honeycomb toffee. The flavour is so popular that it is widely described as the country's second favourite ice cream after vanilla, and it is often held up as a piece of Kiwiana.
A short history of hokey pokey
The word came first, the ice cream later. According to the Wikipedia article on hokey pokey ice cream, New Zealanders have used "hokey pokey" for honeycomb toffee since the late 19th century, though nobody is quite sure where the name came from. The ice cream flavour dates to the mid-20th century, and the article lists Dunedin as its place of origin.
The recipe has changed along the way. The same article notes that around 1980 one large manufacturer switched from solid toffee pieces to small toffee balls. Today you'll find everything from fine crumbs to big shards, depending on the maker.
How honeycomb toffee works
Hokey pokey is a little bit of kitchen chemistry. Sugar and golden syrup are heated until they turn amber. Then baking soda goes in, and the heat breaks it down to release carbon dioxide gas. The bubbles get trapped in the hot syrup, which foams up and sets into a brittle, airy honeycomb as it cools.
That airy structure is what gives hokey pokey its crunch and its melt-in-the-mouth quality. It is also why it does not last forever in ice cream: all that surface area pulls in moisture and the toffee slowly softens.
Make hokey pokey at home
You need just three ingredients and five minutes of attention. Have everything measured before you start, because it moves fast.
- 5 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup
- 1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted
- Line a small tin with baking paper.
- Put the sugar and golden syrup in a medium saucepan (bigger than you think: it foams up).
- Heat gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and simmer until it is a deep golden colour.
- Take it off the heat, add the baking soda and stir quickly a few times until it foams.
- Pour into the tin straight away and leave to set for about 30 minutes. Do not touch it while hot.
- Break into pieces and store in an airtight jar.
Safety: hot sugar sticks to skin and burns badly. Keep children well back, use a deep pan and never taste it until it has cooled completely.
Keeping it crunchy in ice cream
The trick is a barrier. Moisture from ice cream softens bare toffee within days, but a thin coat of chocolate seals each piece. Dip broken pieces in melted dark chocolate, let them set, then stir them through softened vanilla ice cream and refreeze. Smaller pieces disappear faster; chunky pieces stay crunchier.
| Style | Crunch over time | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Bare toffee pieces | Softens within days | Sprinkling on just before serving |
| Small toffee balls | Lasts a little longer | Classic supermarket style |
| Chocolate-coated pieces | Stays crunchy much longer | Mixing into ice cream |
Hokey pokey troubleshooting
Homemade honeycomb is easy once you know the common pitfalls. If yours didn't turn out, the fix is usually one of these:
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Flat, dense toffee | Too much stirring after adding soda, or old baking soda | Stir just a few times; use fresh soda |
| Bitter, burnt taste | Syrup cooked too dark | Take it off the heat at deep gold, not brown |
| Sticky, chewy pieces | Syrup not cooked long enough, or humid storage | Cook a little longer; store airtight |
| Tastes of soda | Lumps of baking soda | Sift the soda before adding |
Honeycomb toffee goes by other names elsewhere, including cinder toffee and sponge toffee, so if you're searching for recipes overseas you may find it under those names. The method is the same: hot sugar, a dose of baking soda and a quick pour.
Our take: Smokey Pokey
We love hokey pokey too much to leave it alone. Our Smokey Pokey is salted caramel ice cream with chocolate-covered hokey pokey pieces that we make ourselves. We like to call it the black-sheep cousin of the classic: same crunch, a bit more mischief. The caramel is cooked until it is coppery and nutty, and the chocolate coating keeps the honeycomb crisp. For a dairy-free version, our oat milk Caramel Hokey Pokey uses the same idea.
Storing homemade hokey pokey
Keep broken honeycomb in a completely airtight jar, somewhere cool and dry, and use it within a week or so. Humidity is its enemy: on a muggy day the surface turns sticky within hours. If you are making it for ice cream, make it the day you plan to mix it in, coat it in chocolate, and freeze it with the ice cream straight away.
How to serve hokey pokey ice cream
- With warm feijoa or apple crumble for a properly Kiwi dessert.
- Between two gingernut biscuits as a quick sandwich; see how to make ice cream sandwiches.
- In a milkshake with a handful of extra hokey pokey crushed over the top.
- Affogato-style with hot espresso; the caramel notes love coffee.
Hokey pokey is one of those flavours that tastes of summer holidays and dairy runs. Whether you pick a classic tub or our salted-caramel version, let it soften for a few minutes before scooping, and the toffee pieces will crunch against creamy ice cream just as they should. More ideas are on our signature flavours page.
Frequently asked questions
What is hokey pokey made of?
Hokey pokey is honeycomb toffee made from sugar and golden syrup, heated until golden, then mixed with baking soda. The soda releases carbon dioxide, which puffs the toffee into a crisp, airy honeycomb. Hokey pokey ice cream is vanilla ice cream with small pieces of that toffee through it.
Why does hokey pokey go chewy in ice cream?
Honeycomb toffee is mostly sugar, and sugar pulls moisture from the ice cream around it. Over time the pieces soften and turn chewy or sticky. Coating the toffee in chocolate, as we do for Smokey Pokey, creates a barrier that keeps the pieces crunchy for much longer.
Is hokey pokey ice cream gluten free?
Classic hokey pokey contains sugar, golden syrup and baking soda, none of which contain gluten, so many hokey pokey ice creams are made without gluten. Brands differ, though, and some add biscuit or use shared equipment. Always check the label if you have coeliac disease or a gluten intolerance.
