Friday, June 18

Chipotle Carmel Corn

It's Father's Day weekend and my goal this Father's Day was to make a treat I could send by mail! Being far enough to not be able to just drive over to celebrate is something I don't believe has ever happened so I had fun making packages! My first thought was to make cookies, or something similar. Easy enough, right? Well, my husband had to be "devil's advocate" and remind me that postal workers aren't really gentle with packages and most likely my pretty cookies would end up crumbs by the time they arrived to their destination. Also, cookies don't make a very light package! :)
That's when I decided to make a fun poem with my dessert and make caramel popcorn for my "pops"! Popcorn is substantially lighter and I really enjoyed tying it in to Father's Day through my poem. Lets just hope they enjoyed their treat. I know P was super pumped when he found out that I made extra for him. Another thing learned- my husband loves carmel popcorn! I think the chipotle added a special touch, subtle but gave a good kick of heat at the end.

Chipotle Carmel Corn
recipe adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients:
1 C popcorn kernels or about 10 cups of popped corn

1 1/2 C granulated white sugar
1/2 C packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 C light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

Directions:
1. Pop the corn and place in a large stainless steel bowl that has been lightly buttered or sprayed with a non stick cooking spray .

2.  In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, stir together the sugars, chipotle, corn syrup, and water. Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture boils, cover, and boil the mixture for about one to two minutes. (This allows steam to form which then condenses and washes off any sugar crystals that have attached themselves to the sides of the saucepan.)
3. Uncover the saucepan and clamp a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan. Boil the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches the soft ball stage, 240 degrees F (116 degrees C).
4. At this point, stir in the butter. Continue to cook the caramel, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches the hard crack stage, 300 degrees F (149 degrees C). (Brush down the sides of the pan, with a heatproof pastry brush that has been dipped in warm water, to remove any sugar crystals that may have formed on the sides of the saucepan.)

5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and carefully stir in the salt and baking soda. (The caramel will foam up when you add the baking soda so be very careful.) Pour the caramel over the popcorn and toss, with two heatproof spatulas or wooden spoons (not your fingers), to evenly coat the popcorn. The caramel corn will be in large clumps so spread the caramel corn onto a large sheet of aluminum foil.
6.  While the caramel corn is still hot, separate it into bite-size pieces, with two forks or by wearing heatproof gloves. Cool completely and then store in an airtight container, at room temperature, for about 10 days.

Here is the fun poem that went with the bag of popcorn!

A bag of corn for our "pop"
because you're the cream of the crop.
We hope you feel loved by this treat
cause we sure ain't gonna kiss your feet!
All this is corny we know
but we learned from the pro!
This popcorn is not only sweet
but packed with a little heat.
We wish we could give you more
for some reason we couldn't find the store!
Love,
"the children of the corn"

1 comment:

  1. What a cute idea! I hope your dad loves this because it's pretty awesome!!!

    I love the fact that it has a little kick in it! I love spicy foods!!

    ReplyDelete

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