Last night I did EXACTLY what I told my caramel candy class NOT TO DO: I multi-tasked making a batch of caramel candy stovetop while baking a batch of caramel popcorn with nuts.
So first off, curse that class for asking about caramel corn. I've reached seven decades blissfully hating caramel corn, mainly because my only experience with that sticky grain was a box of Cracker Jacks. Please note, Cracker Jacks is the perfect gift for a multi-child family: each kid got their own box with its own prize. No sharing, no arguing...so here's me, tearing open the box, grabbing the prize, eating the nuts and throwing everything else away. Six decades later, I still blissfully hated caramel corn, but after researching it for the class, I felt I had to try and make it.
And curses, it turns out that I DO like caramel corn. What I don't like is Cracker Jack caramel corn because...wait for it...Cracker Jack uses DARK Karo and molasses, neither of which I like. When those are eliminated, what must remain is...damn it, very tasty caramel.
So last night I was on my THIRD batch of caramel corn with nuts (guess what the neighbors are getting?) when I decided to also make my caramel candy. Somewhere in between baking the caramelized popcorn, my caramel candy temperature went to 252 degrees...which at my altitude means not chewy, but hard, suck-it caramel. Caramelization process is a science...and I blew it. That was Screw Up #1. Meanwhile, since my mind was on the caramel candy, I finally noticed the nuts were still sitting on the counter--and not with the caramel corn baking so >> Screw Up #2.
Then how did I make lemonade out of these two lemons? Well, I added ~1/2 C of heavy cream to a pot, and chiseled the hard candy into pieces. Then I melted it into a sauce, took 1 cup of the thick sauce, added a bit more butter and 1/2 tsp baking soda and when it foamed, poured it over the peanuts and cinnamon cashews. Baked at 225 degrees for an hour, stirring every twenty minutes. When they cooled off, I tasted it to see whether the entire batch would go in the garbage.
Holy moly...it tastes wonderful! I think it's because while the popcorn just has melted brown sugar and not caramelized sugar with heavy cream, there is none of that gritty sugary mouth-feel. It’s just sublime.
Thankfully, I'll NEVER be able to duplicate it again.
So first off, curse that class for asking about caramel corn. I've reached seven decades blissfully hating caramel corn, mainly because my only experience with that sticky grain was a box of Cracker Jacks. Please note, Cracker Jacks is the perfect gift for a multi-child family: each kid got their own box with its own prize. No sharing, no arguing...so here's me, tearing open the box, grabbing the prize, eating the nuts and throwing everything else away. Six decades later, I still blissfully hated caramel corn, but after researching it for the class, I felt I had to try and make it.
And curses, it turns out that I DO like caramel corn. What I don't like is Cracker Jack caramel corn because...wait for it...Cracker Jack uses DARK Karo and molasses, neither of which I like. When those are eliminated, what must remain is...damn it, very tasty caramel.
So last night I was on my THIRD batch of caramel corn with nuts (guess what the neighbors are getting?) when I decided to also make my caramel candy. Somewhere in between baking the caramelized popcorn, my caramel candy temperature went to 252 degrees...which at my altitude means not chewy, but hard, suck-it caramel. Caramelization process is a science...and I blew it. That was Screw Up #1. Meanwhile, since my mind was on the caramel candy, I finally noticed the nuts were still sitting on the counter--and not with the caramel corn baking so >> Screw Up #2.
Then how did I make lemonade out of these two lemons? Well, I added ~1/2 C of heavy cream to a pot, and chiseled the hard candy into pieces. Then I melted it into a sauce, took 1 cup of the thick sauce, added a bit more butter and 1/2 tsp baking soda and when it foamed, poured it over the peanuts and cinnamon cashews. Baked at 225 degrees for an hour, stirring every twenty minutes. When they cooled off, I tasted it to see whether the entire batch would go in the garbage.
Holy moly...it tastes wonderful! I think it's because while the popcorn just has melted brown sugar and not caramelized sugar with heavy cream, there is none of that gritty sugary mouth-feel. It’s just sublime.
Thankfully, I'll NEVER be able to duplicate it again.
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for the Chex cereal and threw in some broken pretzels.