So since it's the holiday season again, it's time for the neighbor and co-worker gifts. Last year, I did a HUGE conglomeration of different chocolates. The picture on the left side of the blog header is a display of everything we did. Yes... it took a very long time. So this year, we're scaling it back and doing something a little different. There will still be a lot of sugary goodness, but it's been narrowed down to a just a few items; popcorn balls, chocolate caramel pretzels, and homemade taffy.
Now I've tried to make popcorn balls in the past, but I've never been able to hit that perfect caramel consistency. It's always been a little undercooked, so the caramel is runny, or overcooked, so it coats and solidifies to a chunk that can tear out fillings.
I truly lucked out when it came to marrying a perfect counterpart. While I can cook rather well, Liz is an expert baker and candy maker. She professionally designed and decorated wedding cakes for a few years. She can make designer cupcakes and other confections in mere minutes. And when it comes to popcorn balls, I could never hope to compete with her recipe. The caramel is extremely tasty, yet not too sticky. They stay together even after a few days. And they stay chewy for an extremely long time. No rock-hard Cracker-Jack type caramel here.
Caramel Popcorn Balls
Makes 14-18 popcorn balls
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 stick butter
1 14 ounce can condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 gallons of popped popcorn.
Pop your popcorn. If you don't have a popcorn popper, Newman's Own makes an unflavored popcorn in microwavable bags that works great. Remove any unpopped kernels and spread the popcorn over two greased cookie sheets
Stir together the corn syrup, salt and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium high heat until it gets to a boil. Mount your candy thermometer to the side of the pan so you can start monitoring the temperature. Then add the butter and bring it back to a boil. Add the condensed milk and stir constantly until the temperature reaches the soft ball candy stage (which is 230 degrees). Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Pour the mixture evenly over the popcorn on the cookie sheets. Stir up the popcorn until it's thoroughly coated. Once it's cool enough to touch, form into popcorn balls. Allow them to set for about an hour, then wrap in plastic wrap and tie with ribbon or other adornments so they look holiday-ey.
So make of batch of Liz's Caramel Popcorn Balls, hand some out to the neighbors, but save some for yourselves.
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 stick butter
1 14 ounce can condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 gallons of popped popcorn.
Pop your popcorn. If you don't have a popcorn popper, Newman's Own makes an unflavored popcorn in microwavable bags that works great. Remove any unpopped kernels and spread the popcorn over two greased cookie sheets
Stir together the corn syrup, salt and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium high heat until it gets to a boil. Mount your candy thermometer to the side of the pan so you can start monitoring the temperature. Then add the butter and bring it back to a boil. Add the condensed milk and stir constantly until the temperature reaches the soft ball candy stage (which is 230 degrees). Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Pour the mixture evenly over the popcorn on the cookie sheets. Stir up the popcorn until it's thoroughly coated. Once it's cool enough to touch, form into popcorn balls. Allow them to set for about an hour, then wrap in plastic wrap and tie with ribbon or other adornments so they look holiday-ey.
So make of batch of Liz's Caramel Popcorn Balls, hand some out to the neighbors, but save some for yourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment