Today’s caramel corn treat comes from Mary. Let’s all say “Hi” to Mary.
Hi, Mary!
Awesome, thanks.
Now over to Mary for …
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My Grandma Bassler’s Caramel Popcorn
Everyone that has had it loves it!
Ingredients
5 to 6 quarts of popped corn
Cup of nuts – pecans, peanuts, almonds, whatever you like, or it’s optional
2 sticks of butter
2 cups brown sugar
½ cup white Karo (corn) syrup, you could use Agave if you want
¼ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1 Teaspoon baking soda
Directions
Put butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and cream of tarter in a medium to large sauce pan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes.
Pour the popped corn and nuts (if using) in a large pan, I used a large aluminum roasting pan.
After the 5 minutes of boiling, remove the caramel from the heat and add 1 teaspoon of baking soda. It is very important to remove it from the heat before adding the baking soda, because it will foam up out of the pan if you don’t! Stir the soda into the caramel.
Pour over the popped corn and stir to coat.
Bake at 225 degrees for 1 hour, stirring twice. Remove from oven and turn out onto a large dish towel. Cover with another towel to cool. Break into pieces and enjoy!
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Drew again. Regular readers will know I generally avoid corn syrup whenever I can. But this is candy, and candy is a sometimes treat. The corn syrup isn’t just a filler, it’s actually a major part of the texture.
I’ve seen a few recipes for caramel corn that didn’t have corn syrup, but everyone I’ve talked to who made it says it’s a bit more chewy than the corn syrup recipe.
How about you? Has anyone made caramel corn without corn syrup, and the texture was the same as with corn syrup?
Coming up this week, I’ve got two versions of scones for you. Stay tuned, they’re easier than you think.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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16 Comments
What is the difference between camel corn and kettle corn? My grandmother used to make a syrup to put over her popcorm that had a slight pink tinge to it and was salty-sweet. I remember this from the fifties.
Sueann – here’s a website (one of my friends) that has a recipe for Mother Goose Popcorn on it. One of the comments said they used to use red food dye to make it pink – maybe it is like your grandma used to make – have fun experimenting!
http://6lalas.blogspot.com/2010/03/mother-goose-popcorn.html
What is the difference between camel corn and kettle corn? My grandmother used to make a syrup to put over her popcorm that had a slight pink tinge to it and was salty-sweet. I remember this from the fifties.
I was curious to know if you could use Maple Syrup instead of Corn Syrup? I can’t find Corn Syrup ANYWHERE over here. What does the Cream of Tartar do for the recipe? I can’t find it here either.
Kate, you can make your own corn syrup SO easily! It is used in recipes EXACTLY the same as corn syrup. I’ve made it to use in making homemade marshmallows and they turned out perfect, as well as sweet and sour sauce! I always use unrefined (unbleached) sugar. You could use white sugar if you want.
Here’s the recipe for your own homemade corn syrup that will last approximately 2 months:
Ingredients:
2 cups Unrefined Billington’s (or turbinado type) Sugar
3/4 cup Water
1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1 pinch Sea Salt
Directions:
* Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan.
* Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
* Reduce heat to a simmer and put cover for 3 minutes to get sugar crystals off the sides of the pan.
* Uncover and simmer, stirring often, until it reaches the soft ball stage.
* Cool and store in a covered container at room temperature.
* Your syrup should keep for about 2 months.
* Makes between 1-1/2 to almost 2 cups.
Note: I made this today (April 3, 2009) and it’s great. Just simmer it until it thickens & turns completely clear – no longer or it will get too thick and hard when it cools. As I said, it makes between 1-3/4 and 2 almost cups.
There’s something gratifying about a recipe for a corn syrup substitute. It’s used as a substitute for “real food”, so this is a bit of poetic justice.
This is really close to my favorite caramel corn recipe, except my recipe calls for butter extract flavoring, and doesn’t call for cream of tartar.
I tell ya, the baking in the oven makes it the best, ever! Crispy, tasty, and all together too tempting, so I only make it 1-2 times per year!
I got curious about the cream of tartar. This is what I found:
“It (cream of tartar) is also sometimes added to candies or frostings to give them a creamier texture because it can help to prevent the crystallization of cooked sugar.”
I may need to try a few batches and see which way I like it better! Any excuse for caramel corn, right??!!
Here’s the article: http://bakingbites.com/2008/07/what-is-cream-of-tartar/
Wow, my readers are good! I just saw that there was a question and someone has already answered it.
Kate, as for corn syrup, once again you say something like it’s a bad thing and make me more jealous of where you live. I wish I couldn’t find corn syrup over here. But to answer your question … I don’t know. There’s one way to find out, though. And if you do, please let me know how it comes out. Pictures would be good, too.
Sueann, kettle corn is popped with sugar and salt. The texture is like “regular” popcorn, but it’s sweet. This is more like Cracker Jacks or Fiddle Faddle.
You can use baking soda (bicarb soda) instead of the cream of tartar to make the hot caramel foam up. You can also try substituting glucose syrup or golden syrup for the corn syrup, but not 100% sure it will work.
Drew, thanks for posting this! This is my first! As far as corn syrup goes I have to agree with you. I don’t use it very often. I have made the caramel corn with Agave syrup and didn’t notice a difference. I bet maple syrup would be great, give it a little different flavor.
Sounds like I’ve got a date with Caramel Corn tomorrow! We have Maple Syrup here, and Date Syrup. So I think I might have to try a couple of half-batches and let you know how it turns out. Now if only I had some shelled Pecans… hmmm…
Mary makes this for us (her co-workers) every Christmas, It’s delicious!
As I understand it, corn syrup for home kitchens (like Karo) is not the same junk as HFCS… am I wrong?
It’s not exactly the same as what’s used commercially. If Wikipedia is right about this one (and a few quick looks at some other sources supports it):
Hi Drew,
I just wanted to say I really like the sound of your books and glad to see someone out there who likes to “cook like our grandmothers” !! Your way of putting them together with fresh, less processed foods is something I have been interested in. Thanks for putting this out there!