Caramel Popcorn
Homemade caramel popcorn: the cinema classic made at home, with the corn and the caramel in two separate pots. Each gets its own heat, and they come together at the end.
The caramel is never stirred. It contains water, and stirring a sugar syrup that has water in it makes the sugar crystallise: in seconds it turns white and sandy instead of amber, and there is no going back. Instead of stirring, you swirl the pan by its handles.
And the butter is not a flavour addition: the fat stops the caramel setting into a hard glass that welds everything into one block.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp neutral oil (corn or sunflower)
- 100 g popping corn
- 200 g sugar
- 60 ml water
- 4 tbsp butter
- For the savoury version: 2 tbsp butter, salt, pepper and thyme
Method
- 1
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Once it is up to temperature, add the corn, cover and move the pan.
- 2
When the corn starts popping, take the pan by its handles, holding the lid, and shake it constantly so the kernels do not stick to the base. When the popping stops, turn off the heat and tip the popcorn into a bowl.
- 3
Pick out the unpopped kernels before going any further: they hide in the popcorn and cost a tooth.
- 4
In another pan, put the sugar with the water over high heat and let it take colour without stirring, only swirling the pan by its handles. If grains of sugar stick to the sides, wash them down with a wet brush.
- 5
When the caramel is amber, add the butter and only then stir to work it in. It will bubble up hard: that is normal.
- 6
Pour the hot caramel over the popcorn and mix quickly, so it spreads evenly before it starts to set.
- 7
Savoury version: instead of the caramel, melt 2 tablespoons of butter, mix them with salt, pepper and thyme and pour them over the popcorn.
Frequently asked questions
Can it all be done in a single pot?
Yes, and the technique has a name of its own: this is how kettle corn is made. The oil, the corn and the sugar all go into the pot cold, with nothing preheated, and the sugar caramelises while the corn pops.
Step by step:
- Put the oil, the corn kernels and the sugar into the pot, all together and cold.
- Set it over medium heat and cover it.
- Move the pot from side to side so the kernels do not stick to the bottom.
- Once the corn starts popping, swirl it faster: from that point the sugar has melted, and left still it burns.
- Turn off the heat and tip the popcorn into a bowl straight away.
- Keep moving it with a wooden spoon until it is completely cold, or it sets into a single block.
⚠️ This is the difficult version, and it is worth knowing why before you try it. The corn and the sugar are competing for the same heat: the corn needs sustained warmth to pop, and melted sugar burns in under a minute. Turn the heat down to protect the caramel and you are left with unpopped kernels; keep it up so they all pop and the sugar at the bottom burns and turns the whole batch bitter. There is no setting on the hob that serves both at once.
With the two pots of the main recipe, each element gets its own heat and the result is far more even. If you want to try the single-pot version anyway: less sugar than the separate caramel calls for, and do not leave it still for a second.