In May we were contacted by prestigious TV production company, Alchemy TV about the possibility of appearing in a TV program that they were filming later that month.
We were not given too much information about the program, but we were told it might involve making one of our traditional confections using a spice to give it a unique flavour.
As the filming day drew nearer, we were told that the program was a new program that was being headed up by two of the UK's favourite Indian chefs: Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwalla.
The new program is based around the idea on the chef's travelling around the UK adding spice to some of the best traditional artisan food products.
As we are one of the best known luxury chocolate covered honeycomb makers in the UK, we were asked as to whether we would be interested in experimenting with our honeycomb by adding cardamom into the recipe. This would be a new venture for us into the possibilities of a spiced honeycomb.
We were obviously thrilled at the prospect of working with two famous chefs and jumped at the chance.
On filming day we were looking forward to welcoming them to our Somerset chocolate factory and start experimenting with a new honeycomb recipe.
When the film crew arrived, and the filming started, we were working to a tight deadline, with Tony having a flight to catch, enabling us to only have one take at making the perfect honeycomb.
We cooked a honeycomb recipe in the usual way, with the only difference being that we added cardamom to the boiling sugar at the same time as adding the bi-carbonate of soda.
As soon as the ground cardamom was added to the pan, the smell that filled the room was intoxicating - it was truly delicious.
Unfortunately, and possibly something you won't see on the TV edit of the honeycomb making adventure was that just as we were about to pour the honeycomb out of the pan, Tony's mobile rung and we had to stop filming. By the time the phone had been switched off and filming had begun again, the honeycomb had risen above the target temperature of 148-150 degrees C, and the final honeycomb did suffer from patches of burning.
Even though there were small patches of burning in the honeycomb, the honeycomb tasted divine, and our eyes were awoken to the endless possibilities of making honeycomb with the added flavour boost of herbs and spices.
It was a great experience being a part of such a prestigious BBC 2 show, and hope you enjoy the episode when it is aired later this evening.
