Butter
Caramel Corn
After
school, my youngest brother was often found in the kitchen making his own
caramel corn. Popcorn has come a long way from its debut in America at the first
Thanksgiving in 1621. According to English documents, a Native American named
Quadequina brought popped corn to the dinner. The secret to perfect caramel corn
is watching the syrup carefully so that it doesn't boil before the sugar has
melted. This will cause the caramel to be grainy and sugary instead of crisp and
crunchy. Keep the heat on low and it will be perfect.
1 (3-ounce) bag 94% fat-free microwave popcorn,
popped
1 cup coarsely chopped
mixed canned nuts
¾ cup granulated
sugar
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons light
corn syrup
1 tablespoon water
¼ teaspoon baking
soda
¼ teaspoon vanilla
extract
1.
Preheat the oven to 300°.
2. Pour popcorn into a large bowl
or oversized metal
roaster. Pick out
all the whole kernels. These could
break your teeth
if left in the mix. Stir in nuts.
3. Melt butter in a 3-quart
saucepan over low heat. Add the
sugar, corn syrup
and water. Don’t raise the heat at all until
sugar crystals
dissolve. Stir until syrup comes to a boil and
reaches 140° on a
candy thermometer. It will look creamy
and bubbly. Remove
from heat.
4. Stir in the baking soda and
vanilla just until blended. The
mixture will be
foamy. Pour syrup over popcorn and nuts,
then toss with
two wooden spoons until well coated. Pour
onto an 18 x 13 x
1-inch jelly roll pan.
5. Bake in a preheated 300° oven
for 4 minutes. Stir, then bake
for another 4
minutes. The popcorn will be golden and not
dark like regular
caramel popcorn. Remove and turn out onto
waxed paper.
Spread around so it hardens in smaller pieces.