Caramel corn is cooked popcorn smothered with caramel or molasses. Popcorn and caramel is a combination of sweetness and crunchiness that create delightful crackles when eaten. To create lighter caramel corn with more buttery flavor, the white sugar-based caramel is used, instead of the brown sugar versions.

Caramel corn can also contain peanuts or almonds. Various caramelized flavorings are available: chocolate, strawberry, watermelon, coconut, green apple, and blueberry. Different flavors of caramel corn are often sold in candy shops and specialized stores in shopping malls and milk bars. Caramel corn has been a traditional decoration in Christmas trees.

This caramel corn recipe can be made into 20 pieces of cute popcorn balls. Yields 2 quarts.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of unpopped popcorn
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, divide in two
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 1 pinch of iodized salt
• 2 tablespoons of butter, softened
• ½ cup of dark corn syrup
• ½ cup of water
• ½ tablespoon of distilled white vinegar
• ½ teaspoon of baking soda

Procedure:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil to a large saucepan over high heat. When oil is hot, add ½ cup of popping corn. Put cover and keep pan moving constantly. Repeat until all corn has been popped.
2. When corn stops popping, remove from heat. Place popped corn into a buttered bowl.
3. In a smaller saucepan over medium heat, combine well together sugar, salt, butter, dark corn syrup, and water. Stir to dissolve sugar faster.
4. Boil sugar mixture to hard ball stage.
5. Remove caramel from heat. Add soda. Stir continuously to dissolve the soda.
6. Stir in hot caramel syrup over popcorn. Work quickly because caramel sets up fast.
7. Spread out caramelized popcorn on a waxed sheet to cool. Form popcorn balls when popcorn are not so hot anymore, using fingers dabbed on butter.
8. Cool completely before storing in containers with air-tight lids.