Recently a friend posted this link:http://food52.com/blog/7767-how-to-make-any-caramel-corn-in-5-steps
and even tagged me when asking advice about caramel. I am certainly no expert with the stuff, as you can see from my Samoas post, but I couldn't resist giving it a go. I was particularly excited when this recipe said to stir, as I'd always read that stirring would make my caramel go grainy.
It was Bonfire Night a.k.a. Guy Fawkes, so in lieu of going out and watching fireworks, we decided to have exploding popcorn on our stove. I gave the kids strict instructions to stay at the far, far end of the room while I tried the caramel.
I don't really have any photos because all three kids were there and there was HOT BURNING SUGAR too.
Bad news: my caramel turned out grainy. Oops. I think I stirred too early - I think I should have let the sugar dissolve fully into the butter first
Good news: it still tasted fantastic. I'll definitely try, try again. Maybe for the nursery ceilidh coming up...
Disaster strikes in caramel corn paradise! My first batch was amazing - the caramel hardened up almost instantly, the kernels were a little crunchy and the popcorn almost melted. The second batch is soggy and gooey - tasty caramel, but...very disappointing! I used the vanilla this time, which might have changed things - and i didn't let the caramel get to smoking hot...is it possible my caramel wasn't hot enough/not candied? It's not grainy, but it's definitely not hardening! Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteMichael's has occasionally turned out like that, so yeah, I. Hink maybe not hot enough? I used vanilla in mine and while grainy it wasn't soggy. Other recipes seem to use less butter...wonder if that might help. Also, when I looked in Joy of Cooking it used water when dissolving the sugar!
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