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1
Grease an 8 inch square pan with butter.
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2
Off the heat (that means on the counter), mix the sugar and the syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan (use a pretty big saucepan, you'll thank me later).
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3
Now put the pan over a medium to low heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes (Nigella bases this on using an 8-inch diameter saucepan).
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4
The mixture is ready to come off the heat when it's a thick, bubbling bunch of gook, the color of light sand and no darker -- don't let it get any darker than that, or you'll end up with burnt and smelly sugar goop!
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5
Take the stuff off the heat and quickly whisk in the baking soda.
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6
Watch the caramel foam up like something out of a sci-fi film (this is the part where you thank me for telling you to use a large pot).
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7
Pour the foamy stuff into the pan and leave it to set.
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8
This will take several hours.
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9
Be patient.
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10
You can try and cut it into squares, but it will be a fruitless task.
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11
Best bet is to just bash it into a bunch of different shaped pieces.
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12
This is good frustration therapy.
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13
You can dip the pieces into melted chocolate to make your own Cadbury's Crunchy bars, or you could fold splinters of this into either homemade or bought vanilla icecream for honeycomb ice cream.
