Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow! Do you do anything fun to celebrate? My daughter always gets really excited for this day and can't wait to see if some sneaky Leprechaun left her a scavenger hunt. This year I decided to make this green popcorn to sneak into her lunch for a fun surprise. I know she's going to love it! Green Candied Popcorn
modified from Skip to my Lou
4 quarts popped corn
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1/2 Cup light corn syrup
4 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional, does make mixture slightly more creamy)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
green food coloring
In heavy saucepan on medium heat melt butter then add sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar. Once mixture boils, add in food coloring and stir constantly for about 2-3 minutes until the mixture reaches a hard crack * stage. . Remove from heat and carefully stir in vanilla and baking soda. Working quickly and while mixture is foamy, pour mixture over popped corn and gently stir to coat popcorn. Place popcorn into a large roaster or2 large baking sheets for 30 min. stirring half way through. Let it cool for a minute or two (just long enough to not burn your fingers) and break into pieces while still warm. Cool completely and serve.
* To test for a hard crack stage I place a bowl of cold water near the pot I am cooking in. After the first minute or so I drizzle a little of the syrup into the bowl then pinch it to see how firm it is. If it is still kind of soft I continue cooking and testing about every 30 seconds to a minute until the syrup hardens in the water to the point you could crack it. This should happen very soon after drizzling the syrup into the water.
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