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| Aeroplane Jelly for me… |
My first job was working for a popcorn store. I had seen this place at the shopping center, and was fascinated with the people cooking up all sorts of flavours of popcorn. When it came time to get a job I did the typical resume drop around the center, getting the cold shoulder from staff at most places. It was my lucky day though because the owner of the popcorn store was working the front counter and he took a liking to me immediately. He warned me “This isn’t an easy job” and boy was he right. On my first day there I was given a taste of every task, starting with the hardest which was to glaze sweet popcorn.
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| Double Caramel Popcorn |
I become really good at it. I was fanatical about this extraordinary confection, like a young Willy Wonka. To be fair everyone followed the recipes better than I did, lightly coating the sweet popcorn, lightly seasoning the savouries.. but I tended to be quite a bit more generous with the glaze and seasoning (i.e. fat and salt 😛 ) because I knew good looking and tasting popcorn pulled the customers in, and at the end of the day my work was judged by sales, not by how stingy I was with ingredients.
A few years later after university was over and I’d quit this job to pursue my career I still went back and pulled a few shifts there when they were understaffed.
That was years ago, and while that store closed down soon after, there are still popcorn stores around that I visit from time to time, and generally am a bit of a popcorn connoisseur (snob?). The other day I was at the supermarket and my girl, Lauren, wanted to get a bag of that god-awful coloured popcorn which looks like someone just airbrushed some food colouring onto stale popcorn. I convinced her I could make something better.
The problem is, back at the popcorn store we had a wealth of ingredients that you just can’t get at a supermarket. It was a franchise, and like other franchises we purchased the mysterious ingredients from the franchise’s exclusive supplier, no doubt at an inflated cost to the value of those ingredients. This is the same problem KFC franchisees face when purchasing the “secret herbs and spices” from their headquarters which are really just common supermarket items blended together with a massive markup. I knew the white compound we used was really castor sugar, and the dark one was brown sugar, and the popcorn salt was just regular salt that had been ground into a fine powder with something like a mortar and pestle. The seasonings of course got a little more complicated, you won’t find an assortment of cheese powders at the local grocer. In the case of coloured popcorn we were given special syrups, which you could probably devise from food colouring, sugar, water, and flavours – but again those flavours aren’t something you would come by on a typical shopping trip.
So as we stood there at the supermarket I racked my brain about what I could use to flavour the popcorn. I had a look at the cordials and drink powders first, and then something clicked… I had recently made a batch of Aeroplane Jelly and figured the colour and flavouring in that jelly powder might be just the thing to pull this off. I followed my hunch and bought a heap of bright coloured jelly, all the while being a little worried what the effect of gelatin in the recipe might be.
When I got home I did a quick bit of research. Had anyone done anything like this before? Turns out they had. “Jello Popcorn” had been done by our friends in the United States. (Hey you know how they call it “jello”, and they call jam “jelly”? Well that isn’t actually true, jam and jelly are different things: jam is made from fruit pieces whereas jelly is made from fruit juice and isn’t popular in Australia. There is literally at least ten minutes of entertainment in reading about fruit preserves on wikipedia.) The “Jello Popcorn” recipes were unlike anything I was familiar with, and the processes were bizarre. They used light corn syrup in the mixture, they didn’t use baking soda or water, and they tended to microwave the mixture and pour it over popcorn, then bake the syrup onto the popcorn and then break it into pieces. This just wouldn’t do for me (connoisseur… remember), so I’ve adapted my popcorn store skills and with supermarket ingredients translated them into my home kitchen. Though from reading about this I am starting to suspect the flavour syrups we used back in the store were based on corn syrup and something similar to jelly crystals.
Aeroplane Jelly Popcorn
Ingredients
This is enough for one batch of coloured popcorn. This is the bare minimum you can make, and honestly it would be a lot easier to make double this amount.
- Popcorn kernels (about 1/4 cup unpopped, make a little more just in case)
- Canola or sunflower oil (A few tablespoons)
- Castor sugar (1/2 a cup)
- Table salt (1/2 tsp)
- Bi-carb soda (1/2 tsp)
- Water (1/3 of a cup)
- A packet of brightly coloured Aeroplane Jelly
- Unsalted Butter (2 Tbsp – Tip: A 250g block divided into 8 pieces is just over 2 Tbsp)
Equipment
- A large pot with lid for popping
- A nice deep pot for mixing the glaze
- A wooden spoon
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
- A strainer with large holes, such as for deep-frying
- Large containers for keeping the popcorn in (think large mixing bowls, woks, clean buckets…)
- Sugar thermometer (you could wing it, but this makes it easier)
- Air tight containers (Tupperware, Snap-Lock bags…) for storing the popcorn afterward
- Baking paper, or greaseproof paper, or some sort of very large metal/plastic tray (larger than would fit in an oven) for agitating the popcorn
- (Optional) A pair of thick heat-resistant rubber gardening gloves (to handle hot glazed popcorn)
Colour choices
In my opinion fruit-flavoured coloured popcorn is far from the tastiest type of popcorn you can make, but with a bit of practice it can be something that presents really well. Kids love it, girls love it, and it’s a great confection for parties. The colours mean you can do themes.
- Red + Green = Christmas
- Blue + Red + Yellow = Superman
- Orange + Black (with food colouring, or Caramel – see blow) = Halloween
- Green + Yellow = Australian Olympic Team
- Red + Butterscotch (see below) = Valentines
You get the idea. If you can’t nail a colour with the jelly crystals alone, you could add some food colouring to tint it further.
Popping
Back at the popcorn store we promoted the fact that our popcorn was air-popped (we had a lot of low fat glazes too). Let me tell you though, those air-popper machines are pretty dodgy, they don’t last that long with extended use. Another option is microwaving the popcorn (Did you know the first thing proto-microwave technology was experimented on was popcorn? Dr Percy Spencer…). It doesn’t matter what you use. Personally I prefer a saucepan and oil, it tastes a little nicer and the popcorn turns out crispy. Use a nice oil without a gross smell, such as Canola or Sunflower oil. Movie theatres tend to use peanut oil and I am not a fan of that smell.
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| Mushroom popcorn (left) and Butterfly popcorn (right) |
There are two main types of popping corn, referred to as Mushroom and Butterfly. For glazing ideally you would get the more expensive Mushroom-only popcorn because it doesn’t have fragile protrusions that break off when mixing with the glaze. It also has less of those husky flakes.
But guess what, if you’re buying your popcorn from the supermarket you don’t really have that option. So just get whatever. Here is what I found:
To oil pop the best technique is to coat the bottom of the pot/saucepan with the oil. The oil won’t cover a kernel of popcorn all the way but it should come up about half way. You can salt the oil for a bit of flavour, but since this popcorn will be flavoured with a sugary coating, we won’t bother with that.
Put the stove heat on high and drop two or three kernels into the oil then put the lid on. This is to test the temperature, we want to pop all the kernels around the same time, and don’t want them to lose too much moisture as they heat. Some kernels will never pop because they don’t have enough water inside them.
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| This is a nice sized pot with ample space for the popped corn |
When the test kernels pop, I like to remove them with a fork as they will char if left sitting in the oil. Then coat the bottom of the pot with a single layer of popcorn kernels, put the lid on again. At this point it’s a good idea to remove the pot/pan from the heat for about 30 seconds. Oil retains its heat like a bitch, so don’t worry about it getting cold. Swish the pot around a bit to get the oil all over the kernels and set on a cold stove element for the remainder of the 30 seconds. This technique helps bring the kernels to the same heat a bit more evenly. Replace the pot on the hot element and wait for the mad popping to happen. When the popping slows down to about 2-3 pops per second you should remove from the heat again. Be vigilant with this as you don’t want to burn the popped corn. Then tip the popcorn out into a large bowl, ensuring you get any pieces out of the pot that got stuck.
You may need to repeat this process several times to pop all your popcorn. Prepare all your popcorn in advance to get this phase of the recipe out of the way.
Next you should filter the popped corn to remove unpopped kernels and broken pieces. I had a quick look around the kitchen and found some kind of deep-fryer strainer that had holes that were big enough to allow unpopped kernels through but not so large that an entire popcorn flake would go through. Did the trick nicely.
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| Unfiltered corn in the bowl on the right, filter station in the middle, and filtered corn goes in the wok on the left. |
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| This is what you don’t want in your popcorn down the track… |
Glazing
Now it’s time to make the syrup. This is a reasonably dangerous thing to do, boiled sugar gets extremely hot. In the equipment list I mentioned rubber gloves, you may want to think about wearing those all the time just in case. Under no circumstances touch the mixture! I’ve seen the skin come off people’s hands, I’ve heard stories of it splashing into people’s eyes… be very fucking careful. A 15 year old popcorn store employee dropped a plastic measuring spoon into the glazer while I was managing the store and serving customers, in a desperate attempt to save the batch of glaze he reached in with his bare hand and pulled it out. The spoon had melted, and so did he. I had no first aid training and didn’t know how to respond and sent him to the chemist – pretty sure he still hates me.
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Prepare your ingredients in advance.
You don’t want to be farting around with this while the heat is on. |
Another point I should stress is to use measuring cups and spoons to get the amounts right. Even if you wind up innovating on later batches and modifying the formula, you should get a good sense of how much of each ingredient you are using. The bi-carb soda is a touchy one, for example, if you don’t use enough your popcorn will be gooey, if you put too much in it will taste like bi-carb soda.
Before cooking, you’ll need to prepare an area to pour the popcorn out on. Not a bowl, not a small tray. You need a pretty big area where you can spread things out on and toss the popcorn around a bit. I prepared a kitchen bench space about 1.5 metres long and covered it all with baking paper.
Begin by pouring 1/3 of a cup of water into a deep pot. Add the 1/2 cup of sugar, and be careful not to get any sugar on the sides of the pot. This is more water to sugar ratio than normally used in a glaze, but with the sugary gelatinous jelly crystals being added later this makes things a little easier. Also add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. It’s great to have all this stuff measured out in advance as timing can be critical, particularly with such a small batch. Put the lowest heat on and gently stir all the sugar so that it dissolves.
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| Gently stirring in the sugar |
It is very important to ensure all the sugar is dissolved prior to boiling the formula as even a single grain of sugar in the mixture, on the pot, or on your spoon is enough to recrystallise the boiled sugar, it’s an annoying chemistry thing. If it happens, don’t be upset, it happens all the time – but there’s nothing you can do at that point. The glaze will appear candied and won’t have a shiny hard finish, but it’s still perfectly edible. You may need to turn the heat up a click or two to stir in the last remnants of sugar.
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| All sugar gone |
Once there are no traces of sugar left you can turn the stove up to a medium heat. If you’re making a much larger batch than the one described here, you can put a lid on the pot while waiting for it to boil so as to not lose too much water. Continue stirring occasionally. Once it starts to bubble you can add the butter. The amount of butter can be varied considerably. About a tablespoon for a ‘low fat’ and lightly coloured recipe. Two tablespoons or so for a normal recipe (about 1/8th of a 250g block). If you go up to 1/4th of a 250g block you’ll get a heavier and darker mixture which isn’t ideal for colouring. If you’re making a pale colour such as yellow or pink etc… you’re safest to stick with just a tablespoon.
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| We had a saying back at the store: “don’t make me get the butter knife” |
For larger batches, it’s best to cut the butter up into smaller pieces so that it doesn’t take forever to melt.
Once the butter is in things will get seriously cooking. Don’t put the lid on anymore, let the water boil off a bit and allow the mixture to gather more heat. Keep stirring!
At this point it’s time to keep an eye on the temperature using a sugar/candy thermometer. Your ultimate goal will be to get it up over 250°F (120°C). If you go to 300°F you’ll get a much nicer crisp on the popcorn, but you will darken the mixture which will affect colouring. If you don’t have a thermometer you can kind of wing this by keeping watch of the mixture near the bottom of the pot as you stir, if it looks a little golden it’s probably good to go. If you notice a wisp of smoke coming off the mixture it was already cooked enough.
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| Strawberry red |
As the temperature approaches 250°F you can put in your Aeroplane Jelly. Use 2 tablespoons for a light colour and flavour, and 3-4 tablespoons for a deep colour. There are probably 5-6 tablespoons worth in a packet. Use your judgement on this, you may need to add food colouring to deepen or tint the colour. I found the Berry Blue Aeroplane Jelly went a tad green. I also know that Lemon Yellow runs the risk of going a mustardy colour if it is heated too long/high or too much butter is used. I didn’t use enough Strawberry Red and it wound up a little on the pink side. Again be sure to stir the jelly crystals in very carefully, leaving no crystal undissolved. On one hand it’s very risky to be adding something sugary this late in the game, but on the other the colour will remain brighter because it isn’t being cooked as long. I’d consider trying to dissolve it in some boiling water first and using a little less water at the start. This is the point at which you will discover if your mixture is a success or failure. By this stage the mixture should be adequately cooked.
Now you’ll have to move quickly. You should already have 1/2 a teaspoon of bi-carb and 4 cups of popcorn measured out. Turn the heat off and mix in the bi-carb. As soon as it goes in, the mixture will begin to change and you cannot waste any time. The glaze will lighten in colour and become a little foamy. Quickly pour the popcorn in and with your wooden spoon fold the mixture over the popcorn. Keep trying to lift out the coated popcorn in the bottom and place it on top. Try not to break the popcorn. It helps if you tilt the pot diagonally. Keep going, keep the popcorn moving until it is entirely coated, you must not allow a clump of popcorn to sit for more than a few seconds. The mixture will start to get stiff and your arm will get sore. You may also need to move it off the hot element to avoid the popcorn burning.
Pour the glazed popcorn out onto the area you prepared area. With a small batch the popcorn may be cool enough to touch, or if you have the rubber gloves you can definitely get in there and start separating the popcorn. If it’s incredibly hot and you don’t have the gloves, you can use the wooden spoon to try to flatten and separate the popcorn as best as you can, but you risk breaking the popcorn. When the popcorn is adequately separated (it may not be perfect) you will also want to encourage it to cool. You can do this by tossing it gently into the air. By keeping the popcorn moving you prevent it sticking back together, this whole process is called agitation.
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| Agitated sweet popcorn |
Let the popcorn cool for a few minutes before stashing it in a bowl or bag or container. It might still stick together a little as it sits in the container, but it can be very easily broken apart by then.
If you’re making more colours, first get rid of any traces of the previous colour. Clean the spoon you measured out the jelly crystals with, run the thermometer under some hot water, wipe down the agitation area, and most importantly thoroughly clean the pot and wooden spoon you glazed with. A good technique to cleaning the pot is to steam it: fill it up to a quarter with water and place on high heat with the lid on. Once the water boils it will automagically wash the sugary sides down. You can also stick the wooden spoon in there to get the sugar off that. After this it will be really easy to wipe/scrub the pot out.
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| My first attempt at fruity Aeroplane Jelly popcorn. Not entirely happy with the colour of the red and blue, and finish on the yellow, but it is still way better than supermarket rainbow popcorn. |
Store the popcorn in an airtight container or snap-lock bag. If should last a couple weeks at least. It won’t go mouldy like bread, but it may go a little stale. I’ve heard you can rejuvenate it by baking it on a high temperature for a bit, but if it isn’t all eaten by then you’re doing it wrong.
Double Caramel Popcorn
It turns out I popped way too much popcorn, so I needed to make something else.
The most popular flavour of glazed popcorn is double caramel. Still not my favourite, but it is the easiest to make and very rewarding.
You basically follow the same recipe as above for 4 to 6 cups of popped corn, minus the Aeroplane Jelly step, and with the following differences:
- 1 whole cup of castor sugar, and
- 1 whole cup of packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 125g-250g unsalted butter (I used about 3/4 of a 250g block)
- 1 whole cup of water
- 1 tsp bi-carb
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| So creamy… and heavenly… |
Additionally since caramel is dark and you don’t have to worry about pesky colouring you can go up to 320°F for an extra crispy finish.
Since this is a double thick coating, the popcorn will last longer in an air-tight container than a single glaze. Up to four weeks.
Regular Caramel Popcorn
It’s not as much fun, but you basically double the amount of popcorn, or halve the amount of glaze.
Low Fat Caramel Popcorn
Use about 80% of the sugar, less salt, and half the butter of regular caramel popcorn. You might want to ease up on the bi-carb a little as it will be easier to detect on your tastebuds.
Butterscotch Popcorn
Butterscotch popcorn is a good base for making other flavours of popcorn. It’s essentially the same as the Aeroplane Jelly one with a slightly lower water to sugar ratio, no jelly, and don’t be stingy on the butter. Alternatively think of it as the regular caramel popcorn where brown sugar is just replaced with more castor sugar.
You can also make double butterscotch popcorn by doubling the mix just like the double caramel one, and a low fat butterscotch by making similar reductions as low fat caramel.
Macadamia Nut Popcorn
THIS is the best popcorn. If you disagree then you are an idiot. I used to put this in milk and eat it like a breakfast cereal.
You just make a butterscotch popcorn, and then before adding the bi-carb you chuck in a heap of chopped nuts and then a shot of macadamia syrup (normally sold near the coffee at the supermarket as it is intended as a coffee additive). Brilliant.Consider putting the nuts in a bit earlier so you don’t suddenly lose a heap of heat at the end, and the syrup as late as possible because these syrups aren’t really designed to be cooked.
You can also make a Pecan nut version and use a Butter Pecan syrup or Maple Syrup, that’s pretty great too.
See what other coffee syrups you can get, maybe it will inspire you.
Coconut Popcorn
Stir in half a cup of desiccated coconut at the end of a double butterscotch, and optionally a shot of coconut syrup (a coffee syrup) or a touch of coconut flavouring (cake section).
Chocolate Popcorn
Mix up to half a cup of cocoa powder into a double butterscotch before the bi-carb. This is a red herring, it’s pretty foul. It can be a good option for making a blackish coloured popcorn and serving a small amount with a strawberry, orange, caramel, butterscotch, coffee, or mint flavoured popcorn. But by itself…nah…
Your best bet for a good chocolate popcorn is to melt milk chocolate and use that on the popcorn instead.
Kettle Corn
This is a fantastic and very traditional form of popcorn. It’s sweet and salty flavours together. Kettle refers to the large pot in which you glaze the popcorn. This is often sold at fairs at ridiculously high prices.
You make a low fat butterscotch, and then sprinkle on some buttersalt while it’s still warm. Buttersalt is a yellow butter-flavoured salt normally sold in the spice section of the supermarket as “Popcorn salt”. This is what is used at the movies to give popcorn that buttery taste. Buttersalt contains a chemical that will scar your lungs if inhaled and give you an irreparable disease called “popcorn lung”. Enjoy.
