i was heading to a friends house last night and wanted to bring a treat. luckily i had all the ingredients for my mother's traditional poppycock, aka caramel popcorn. it is quite simple and SO yummy!
i had the opportunity to test out my vanilla i brought back from mexico... i think it made all the difference!
so you take 11 cups of popped popcorn in a BIG mixing bowl
and then on the stove you combine:
- 1 and 1/3 c. brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 c. butter, and
- 1/2 c. corn syrup.
- bring it to a boil until temp of 250 (using candy thermometer)
take it off the heat and add:
- 1 tsp of vanilla and
- 1/2 tsp of baking soda. it makes it nice and foamy (i think this is the trick too so that the popcorn doesn't melt)
- you can add nuts or jujubes too if you'd like
- mix it ALL into the popcorn.
you can do 1 of 2 options, either place the entire contents into a bunt pan to let it hard and after a couple of hours you can take it out and it is a nice caramel popcorn cake which makes for a nice baked gift OR you can spread it onto a cookie sheet (as below) and let sit for a bit and then break it all up and put it in a bowl. either works and either are equally delicious.
ENJOY!
This looks PERFECT. When we add the nuts, we add one cup of toasted or roasted mixed nuts and we add them into the carmel sauce just before pouring it over the popcorn. The jujubes are usually the red and green santa faces cut into quarters at Christmas, and again, it is also a scant cup of these, all dispersed amongst the popcorn before the sauce is poured over to avoid them clumping, or sticking together. I actually prefer it just as you made it, but grandad would be very upset to miss the nuts! XOXO
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