Stove-popped Caramel Popcorn

Who doesn't like a snack of well popped popcorn that is generously coated with a caramel that cools to a crisp? Problem is the store bought ones are often too miserly in the sweet coating or if you manage to find delicious ones, they often cost you a bomb for a small packet. 

So it became a no brainer to try making some at home; afterall raw popcorn costs next to nothing and you only need a small handful to make one big giant pot.

For those popping popcorn for the first time, you might not be aware that a small amount of popcorn will yield many times its volume when popped, so please prepare a large enough pot with lid, preferably transparent, to pop the popcorn, unless you want a popcorn explosion in your kitchen! For this recipe I'm using a big pot (that measures diameter 21cm x 15cm tall) and the popped popcorn will fill it to its brim. You will also need an equally large, if not, larger mixing bowl.

This caramel sauce is also a 'play cheat' one as brown sugar is used instead of boiling caster sugar till it gets caramelised. The taste is still, however, awesome. Now let's go pop some popcorn now!

Recipe adapted from: Stovetop popcorn and Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

Popcorn

- 60 ml avocado oil

- 2/3 cup popcorn kernels

Caramel Sauce

- 170 gm unsalted butter

- 300 gm brown sugar, sifted 

- 6 tbsp light corn syrup (KARO brand only!) 1

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 tsp baking soda, sifted to remove clumps

Optional: unsalted macadamia nuts, toasted

Method

A. Popping the popcorn

A1. Put oil and 3 kernels into a deep pot.

A2. Heat on med-high heat until the 3 kernels pop.

A3. Remove the 3 kernels and add in the rest of the kernels.

A4. Cover the pot and remove from heat. Wait for 30 seconds. Popping will start.

A5. Put the pot back on heat. Wait till the popping has slowed down. Off the heat.

The popped popcorn

A6. Remove the lid. Be careful of any moisture that might drip back into the pot! Pour popped popcorn immediately into a mixing bowl that is large enough to toss the caramel sauce later. Set aside. 

B. Caramel Sauce

B1. Bring butter, sugar and corn syrup to a boil in a saucepan for 3-5 min. 

B2. Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda. The mixture will bubble and sizzle! Be careful!

B3. Stir to get homogeneous mixture.

B4. Pour over popped popcorn and toss quickly to coat. Sauce will harden quickly once cooled so must act fast. This is also the time to add in the optional macadamia nuts. Take note that it is normal if you can't get the nuts mixed in with the popcorn, because the sauce most likely will just glide over the nuts.

Spread the popcorn evenly on the baking tray and bake at 200C fan forced for about 5min

B5. Spread out the mixture on a baking tray and bake at 200C fan forced for about 5min to get crispy coated popcorn. Watch out for burning! Re-melting caramel will help you to toss the popcorn evenly too if you have not done so earlier. Cool completely before storing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

1. Initially I had been using KARO brand light corn syrup until I changed to other brand of light corn syrup when I couldn't get KARO and have discovered that during those times, my popcorn coating didn't cool to a crunchy crisp; it was tacky and got between the teeth. It only dawned upon me much later that it could be due to the change of the syrup and true enough, after I used back KARO brand, the coating is back to the usual crunch I like.