Coconut Curry Caramel Corn

Popcorn and I have a special relationship. We’ve spent a lot of time together over the years. For as long as I can remember, it’s been one of my favorite things to eat. I keep it simple. The perfect recipe is a huge bowl of salted popcorn, a couch, and something ridiculous to watch on tv. I used to make chile oil for the sole purpose of using it to pop popcorn, but these days, I use plain grapeseed oil, pop the kernels in a Whirley Pop, and sometimes add truffle salt. However, every once in a while I’m willing to try new things with this beloved ingredient. An occasional caramel corn is not out of the question. In fact, when I saw this Coconut Curry Caramel Corn in Susan Feniger's Street Food, I wasted no time in gathering everything I needed to make it. The recipe is also available online. Some sweet and spicy candied peanuts are made with finely chopped lime leaf and coconut milk, and those are mixed into the caramel corn. Then, spices like cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, and cayenne are mixed into the caramel before it coats the popcorn, candied peanuts, and some toasted coconut. Luckily, the recipe makes a lot because this was a very addictive snack. 

Making the candied peanuts was quick and easy, and they can be made in advance and stored at room temperature. You don’t want to walk away from the stove though. They need to be stirred and the heat may need to be turned down to prevent burning. Unsalted peanuts were mixed with coconut milk, dark brown sugar, finely chopped lime leaf, salt, and ground cayenne. The mixture was transferred to a saute pan and cooked over high heat for almost two minutes before stirring while continuing to cook for another five minutes or so. The nuts were then spread on a baking sheet and left to cool and crisp. Next, big pieces of shredded coconut were toasted in the oven while popcorn was popped. The popcorn, coconut, and candied peanuts were combined in a large mixing bowl. To make the caramel, butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup were combined in a saucepan and cooked while stirring until it reached 255 degrees F. Off the heat, salt, baking soda, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, mace, paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon were added. The curry caramel was poured over and mixed into the popcorn mixture. Last, the caramel corn was spread on two baking sheets and baked for an hour at 250 degrees F and was stirred every twenty minutes. 

As I wasn’t able to stop eating this caramel corn, I noticed that one bite would seem sweet while the next seemed a little hot from the cayenne. Then, I’d notice the other spices more in the following bite before the sweet flavor returned again. It made it very hard to step away from the bowl of caramel corn. I think it will work just as well as my usual, simply salted popcorn in the recipe above with the couch and tv. 

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program.

Tweet

Caramel Popcorn with Almonds and Pecans

A couple of cool weather nights got me thinking about how caramel popcorn spends a long time drying in a warm oven and how good the lingering aroma is. Many, many years ago, when I went trick-or-treating, there was one house that always handed out little bags of homemade caramel popcorn. I’d love to offer homemade treats to the kids, but I don’t think their parents would let them eat it unless they’re friends of ours. So, I made some caramel popcorn and brought it into the office instead.

Sadly, but typically, I couldn’t remember what recipe I used the last time I made some. This blog will come in handy for future recipe recall. I searched around, took inspiration from a few sources, tinkered with ingredients a bit, and came up with what you see here. Of course, I can’t resist sea salt with caramel, and cayenne is ending up in everything I cook lately, so if you’d prefer strictly sweet caramel popcorn, skip the cayenne and final salt sprinkling.

3/4 c popcorn kernels
1 1/2 c whole almonds
1 1/2 c pecan halves
2 c light brown sugar
6 T unsalted butter
1/4 c pure cane syrup
1/4 c honey
1 T vanilla extract
1/2 t almond extract
1 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 - 1/2 t cayenne (I used 1/2 t, and it wasn’t spicy but was just enough to know it’s there.)
1/2 t sea salt for finishing

-pop the popcorn kernels as you prefer (I use the Whirley-Pop popcorn popper because I seriously love popcorn and make it more often than I’ll admit, and this contraption works really well.)
-preheat oven to 250 degrees; mix warm popcorn, almonds, and pecans in a large roasting pan and place in oven
-in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat, combine butter, brown sugar, cane syrup, and honey; stir until sugar dissolves into melted butter; attach a candy thermometer and increase heat to high; allow mixture to reach 255 degrees without stirring, about four minutes
-remove pan from heat; stir in vanilla and almond extracts, the first teaspoon of salt, baking soda, and cayenne; the mixture will bubble at this point
-remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully pour the caramel over the popcorn and nut mixture; stir gently and coat the entire mixture thoroughly
-return the roasting pan to the oven and bake while stirring occasionally, until the mixture feels dry, about one hour
-serve in a large bowl and sprinkle sea salt over top

I left a big bowl of this in the kitchen at work, and it was scooped up throughout the day. Some folks were delighted by the tiny kick of heat, some didn’t seem to notice, but everyone came back for more. The cane syrup brought about a deeper-flavored caramel than corn syrup would, and the nuts added their own appeal. This recipe is in the permanent file now, and next time I’ll know where to find it.

Tweet