The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern
Mini Summary: The Circus of Dreams is only open from sunset to sunrise and features the magical. As head of the circus, Celia’s father trains her in magical ways and pits her against his rival’s apprentice, Marco.
I can’t think of a circus without thinking of caramel popcorn, and this sticky treat makes a couple cameos in The Night Circus! There are few treats more autumnal in my mind than a bowl of caramel popcorn on a cozy night with a book or a paper cupful to munch on while you stroll through a circus, carnival, or fair on a crisp October night.
Chocolate Drizzle Caramel Popcorn
Course: dessert, snack10
servings15
minutes50
minutesCrispy, light, and satisfying caramel popcorn with an added hit of a chocolate drizzle.
Ingredients
4 quarts plain popped corn in a large bowl
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup corn syrup (light or dark)
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons flaky salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 ounces milk or dark chocolate
2 ounces white chocolate
1 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped pecans, cashews, or any other nut you’d like
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F.
- In a medium pot heat the sugar, butter, molasses, corn syrup, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring it to a rolling boil. Let it roll for 5ish minutes.
*If you’re a thermometer kinda cook, you’ll want to get the mixture to 245-250 degrees F. That should take about 5 minutes. I would recommend checking the temp to ensure the proper heat is reached. - Remove the caramel from the heat and dump in the baking soda, stirring to distribute. (This makes the caramel full of tiny bubbles, making the caramel easier to chew.)
- Dump the nuts on top of the popcorn, then pour the caramel over the nuts and popcorn. Stir gently enough not to break the popcorn but thoroughly enough to coat the nuts and corn.
If you like chewy popcorn, this is when you can dig in or move on to the chocolate step. - Dump the mixture onto a parchment- or silicone- lined baking sheet and spread it out. Pop it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Stir, then bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes.
- Temper and Drizzle the Chocolate
- Chop the white chocolate and put it in a microwave safe plastic bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Then microwave again for 15 seconds. Stir. Then microwave every 5 seconds, stirring well between each zap in the microwave until it’s completely melted. Don’t rush this! Keeping the chocolate in temper will ensure when it cools it will still have a snap. (Keep the white chocolate under 85 degrees.)
- Drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn.
- Follow the same process for the milk/dark chocolate. (Milk chocolate should stay under 87 degrees F, and dark chocolate no hotter than 90 degrees F.)
- Give the chocolate time to harden again. Break up the popcorn and eat up! Store in an air tight container, if you manage to have any left. This is best eaten soon after the chocolate is drizzled.
The caramel popcorn recipe is adapted from the Thermoblog
The great tempering chocolate tutorial I follow and used above is from Sugar Geek Show.