If there was ever anything I hated before college was having sweet food as a snack or a meal. Like, I generally couldn’t have a stack of pancakes or like waffles for breakfast because it just felt weird. How can you have a “dessert” for breakfast?? It just felt wrong. I left the country for America with this ardent belief, knowing perfectly well that nothing will change. My first month in, I ate a dish called Chicken & Waffles. Crispy fried chicken served with a beautiful doughy waffle, drizzled with maple syrup. Honestly, I KNEW I would hate but to my pleasant surprise, I kind of loved it.

Ever since then, there have been a select few super sweet snacks and meals that have passed my rules. Sweet potato fries with a cinnamon cream cheese dip, a nice stack of buttermilk pancakes with maple glazed bacon, and of course, these salted caramel popcorn. The best caramel popcorn I have had in Chicago at a store called Garret. They make kettle corn in a copper kettle and then mix it 50:50 with beautiful cheese popcorn. I bought three tins of that popcorn at the start of a 5 day trip to Chicago, and by Day 4, I was in a dire need of a refill. For years after that, I never had a big craving for caramel popcorn but then all of a sudden, in 2018, PVR Cinemas started selling a caramel and cheese mix and I was HOOKED. It became a staple snack to the point that I didn’t know what I was more excited for when I would go to the movies— the movie or the popcorn! Caramel popcorn is super easy. The whole process takes less than 30 minutes to take and the plus side of this is that you get to learn a quick caramel recipe which, to be honest, is hard to come by. So scroll down and make this beautiful popcorn for literally any time of the day, month, year (though, social isolation times seems like the best time haha).

Stay safe, and keep cooking <3

Glimpses from the week

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of corn (makes 10 cups of cooked popcorn)

• 60 grams of salted butter

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon baking soda (soda bicarbonate)

• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

• 1 cup of white sugar (granulated is better, but literally any sugar would do!)

• 2-3 teaspoons of sea salt

Method

Cook the popcorn

• In a large vessel, like a pressure cooker, on medium heat, add oil and 10 grams of butter. When the oil begins to bubble, add the kernels of popcorn, 2 teaspoons of sea salt, and shut the lid. Vigorously shake as the kernels begin to pop. Keep on the flame until you begin to hear only 1 or two pops every ten seconds. Remove lid and let cool.

For the Caramel

• In a large bottom pot (like a pressure cooker) on low heat, add the remaining butter and all the sugar. Using a wooden or silicone spoon mix well. Keep on a low flame until all the sugar and butter has assimilated.

• Increase the heat to medium-high but keep a close eye by constantly stirring until the caramel turns a little amber-brown color.

• Shut off the heat. Add a teaspoon of salt, vanilla extract, and mix with a spoon. Add baking soda and let it effervesce. Mix well! The bicarb helps give the caramel a beautiful honeycomb type flavour.

• Work quick, while the caramel is still warm, add the popcorn to the same vessel and slowly mix all the caramel as evenly as possible

• Lay out a flat sheet like a baking sheet and let cool. Alternatively, you can also place in it an oven for 20 minutes at 120 celsius. This will make them extra crunchy!

This popcorn will stay crunchy for 2 weeks in an airtight container (though I doubt they remain un-eaten for that long!)