halloween countdown day 3: macbeth and caramel corn, a match made in autumn.
Caramel corn is probably the most addictive food on the planet. What is more satisfying than the crunch of a caramel coated, slightly salty kernel of puffed up corn? Nothing, that’s what. A movie night with caramel corn is an event in and of itself (as I typed that phrase, I totally felt like a robot had taken over my mind lol). To make it even more special, have kids stir in fun mix-ins, like Halloween sprinkles, candy corn, those wilton monster eye cake decoration candies or Halloween themed m&ms. Caramel corn is also a wonderful snack to package up and give out to friends for covid approved, socially distant screen shared movie nights. Leave it on their porch in a plastic baggy with a cute ribbon, it is easy to transport and stays great for days.
Baking soda is what makes this caramel light, airy and fresher tasting, not gloopy and heavy. Make sure you use a large enough cauldron- I mean pot- it will definitely bubble up like crazy when you add the baking soda to the boiling sugar-butter! This is when you get to channel your inner-witch! Shakespeare’s Macbeth has a whole section dedicated to amazing women making homemade caramel, I have quoted it below so you’ll know what to say while bringing this magical, wonderful Halloween time treat to life!
“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
and your caramel will taste as it should.“
Clearly, the Bard knew his snacks. So it seems only natural to pair this snack with the 2015 dark, chilling movie version of Macbeth (it is on amazon prime, so grab your bowl and get ready for some creepy, atmospheric Scottish royalty blood baths!)
caramel corn- so good its scary!
Ingredients
- 12 c popped popcorn (about 4-5 bags, if you are not doing stove top)
- 1 c brown sugar (can also use half a cup and half a cup of maple syrup)
- 1/2 c corn syrup
- 1/2 c butter (one stick)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp cayanne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- pre-heat oven to 300
- line 2 sheet pans with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper or foil
- pop all the popcorn and place in two large heat resistant bowls- make sure you seperate any unpopped kernels and remove them, they are not welcome here.
- in a really big pot (i'm not making this up, this stuff is going to bubble like the dickens, and you don't want hardened caramel all over your stove.) boil sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt until it reaches 240F (this should take about 5 minutes of constant stirring
- remove from heat, add baking soda and vanilla (remember i mentioned bubbling like the dickens? yeah, that's going to happen big time now.) the pepper can be added now, if you like things sweet and spicy.
- coat the popcorn with the caramel and mix and stir until all pieces are coated
- pour out into the sheet pans and spread into an even layer
- bake for 30-35 minutes, you can stir it at 15 minutes to check on it, but nothing crazy bad happens if you don't
- remove from the oven, it cools fairly quickly and can be placed in a large bowl to serve, larger clumps should be easy to break apart
- add any mix ins you want (like candy corn, pretzels, m&ms...)