Maple Kettle Corn

Recently at a local festival, a Maple Kettle Corn stand with its tempting, sweet aroma kept calling my name. My husband and I made the decision to be strong and just walk away, and as we turned our backs towards it I was proud of the willpower we both demonstrated.

At some point I noticed that I was walking by myself, and when I turned around to look for my husband he was of course first in line at the kettle corn stand! To heck with willpower! I ran to catch up and grabbed a handful out of his bag. It was warm, sweet, crunchy and salty all at the same time. It was heavenly! Within seconds the whole family was grabbing handfuls practically inhaling the stuff. Luckily, I wore a cowl neck t-shirt which caught all my droppings (my family was mortified) and nothing was wasted. I'm not proud.



There are recipes on the web which tell you kettle corn can be made at home in a regular pot. I was determined to make it work, but pot after pot I ended up with a mess of burnt kettle corn. There was just no way to shake that pot fast and hard enough to prevent the maple syrup from burning. I tried medium heat, medium-high heat and medium-low heat. I tried more syrup, less syrup, more sugar, less sugar... I gained 5 pounds. But guess what? I finally made the God honest best maple kettle corn ever! It took buying a new gadget, but it was totally worth it! Only problem is it's dangerously good...

You'll need a Whirley Pop popcorn maker for the best results, which runs about $20 on Amazon, but it's a small investment for the thrill you will get from the fast popping popcorn (its the little things that make me happy). The Whirley Pop is made of very thin aluminum so the kernels pop quickly, greatly shortening the amount of cooking time and reduces the chance of burning. When your working with syrup this is necessary. You'll also need maple sugar (which you can find on Amazon or at Whole Foods). India Tree makes a good one. The best popcorn to use is "mushroom popcorn" (also on Amazon, made by Just Poppin), which are those big, bulbous kernels usually used for kettle corn, but it's amazing with regular kernels as well. Try to use a high quality Vermont maple syrup if you can... it has more flavor than some other inexpensive ones I've tried and makes a big difference in flavor.

So you still don't want to buy a Whirley Pop? You can try using the thinnest 6 quart aluminum pot that you have (you know those cheap camping ones?), but you are really going to have to shake that pot on the burner like there's no tomorrow. When you dump the popcorn into the bowl, leave the burnt pieces stuck at the bottom of the pot behind. In other words, don't use a spoon to scrape them out. 

Now get everything together, measured and ready before you start because you will have to work fast. If your maple syrup is cold, bring it out of the refrigerator a couple hours ahead of time.

Maple Kettle Corn

1/4 cup neutral tasting vegetable oil, such as grape seed oil

1/2 cup popcorn kernels, preferably mushroom popcorn

3 tablespoons maple sugar

1/3 cup maple syrup, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

In a small bowl, mix the  maple sugar, syrup and salt with a rubber spatula (keep the spatula and bowl nearby).

Add the oil and popcorn kernels to the Whirley Pop, leaving one half of the lid up and open. Give the lever a roll or two, stirring the kernels so that they are covered with oil. 

Wearing oven mitts is a good idea to protect you from any splattering oil. This usually doesn't happen, but it could.

Now get ready. Turn the heat to medium, hold the bowl containing the maple syrup mixture and spatula above the Whirley Pop (keeping your face away from the open lid) and as soon as the first kernel pops, which should happen in less than a minute, quickly pour the maple syrup mixture into the Whirley Pop using the spatula to scrape out the bowl. Lower the lid of the Whirley Pop and make sure it's fastened shut all the way. I have to hit the fastener gently with the side of my fist to do this. 

Immediately start rolling the lever to stir and and keep doing so without stopping. Within a couple of minutes, maybe sooner, the kernels will begin to pop again. When this happens, they will start popping very quickly so get ready for some fun! Keep turning the lever until the popping has slowed down to 3 seconds between pops and you can't stir anymore because the popped popcorn is blocking you from doing so.

Remove the Whirley Pop from heat immediately and transfer popcorn to a bowl.

Enjoy while warm (but it's still amazing once it cools).

Now tell me this is not the most awesome treat you have ever made!