Red Hot Popcorn Balls

Halloween means so many things to so many people that it is arguably the most ecumenical of holidays. To some, it is a religious holiday, one of the eight Sabbats that mark the turning of the wheel of the year, festive and somber in equal respect for ascent of the new year and the release of the year just passed. To some, it is a holiday of wild times at office parties and freewheeling bar nights; to others, a mash of crazy costume parties and moonlit barn dances.

No matter how we celebrate Halloween, the common thread of tricks and treats is both figurative and literal. Tricks are anything from pranks and jokes to the nature of reversal that is at the core of this holiday: bad is good, scary is fun, the hidden is made manifest. Treats are anything from dressing up in costumes and carving pumpkins to hosting bake sales and, of course, free reign with candy.

One of Halloween's greatest switcheroos is what happens to popcorn during this season. Popcorn, normally served as a buttery, salty jumble, finds itself bathed in hot curry or enrobed in sticky sweet syrup. From the cellophane-wrapped offerings at the school Halloween carnival to laughable upscale candy shops, the popcorn ball is a mainstay of Halloween treating.

This goes back to Hallowe'ens of yore, when it was an eve of party games both childlike and sinister. Often hallow-weening for children was done in groups, with more somber or looser adult celebrations held separately. Along with fortune-telling games and costume parades, sweets were a mandatory part of the festivities. Often the treat had a trick associated with it --that is among the reasons we bob for Halloween apples rather than just grabbing one out of a bowl. But one thing all of the treats had in common was that they were what special was at that time. This was before widespread availability the bags of candy that fill our bowls, and our trick or treaters, these days. A trip to the local candy store was a treat in and of itself, reserved more for birthdays or Easter than for Halloween.

Halloween treats reflected the playfulness of the holiday, its roots in harvest celebrations, and the kitchens of the community. Apples were stuck with grape twigs and dunked in melty caramel or sticky sweet syrup. Cups of cider were passed around. Cookies and brownies were lined up for grabbing, with shimmering lollipops and other specialties from the candy kitchen awarded as prizes. And there was popcorn: hot and salty from a cast iron kettle, scooped into paper bags, filmed with butter or glazed with caramel.

Popcorn balls not only stickied the faces and fingers of trick or treaters of yore. They remain a stalwart of bake sales and, for that matter, Christmas parties. It's difficult to imagine giving out homemade treats at the Halloween door these days, but serving them at a Halloween party is guaranteed to delight party-goers whose costumes allow them to break into the sticky knobbly mess. These popcorn balls are buttery and sweet but contain a hidden Halloween trick: a devilish bite of heat, delivered by the tiny cinnamon candies that many of us grew up calling red hots. They are a treat and a trick, and they are ideal for Halloweening.

Red Hot Popcorn Balls

It is essential when making candy syrup to follow safe practices: work slowly and gently, without distractions, to minimize the danger of splashing. Gauge when the syrup is safe to handle with the candy thermometer: as a guideline, water for washing the dishes is typically about 120 degrees F. If the syrup cools or re-crystallizes, add one teaspoon lemon juice to the pan and gently reheat the syrup on low.  

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup water

2 9-ounce bags cinnamon imperials

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus additional for the baking pan

Make popcorn!

1. Place a large caldero or a cast iron skillet with a lid on the stove top. Turn burner to high.
2. Place the oil in the pan. Swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.
3. Safely add the popcorn to the oil. Swirl to coat the kernels and distribute them evenly across the bottom of the pan.
4. Cover the pan. Listen for the corn to start popping. Cook the popcorn on high, occasionally shaking the pan but not peeking, until the popping sounds slow to every few seconds.
5. Once the popcorn has finished cooking as described in step 4, turn off the heat, leaving the lid on the pan.

Make the candy syrup

1. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of a heavy medium-sized saucepan.
2. Place 2 tablespoons butter into the pan. Add the sugar, the contents of one bag of cinnamon candies, and salt to the pan containing the butter. Slowly pour the water into the pan.
3. Turn the heat to low.
4. Safely and gently, stir the candy mixture with a whisk until sugar and candy are dissolved. Work carefully to avoid splashing.
5. Continue cooking, whisking gently to avoid splashing, until the syrup is thick and fragrant and the temperature on the candy thermometer reaches 270 degrees F. Once the syrup reaches 270 degrees F, turn off the heat but leave the candy thermometer clipped to the side of the pan. Cover the pan and place the pan safely out of reach.

Make the popcorn balls

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Butter the paper.
2. Measure 1/2 of the remaining bag of cinnamon candies into a coffee cup or measuring cup with a spout.
3. Remove the lid from the pan containing the popcorn. Pick through the popcorn to discard unpopped kernels.
4. Once the candy syrup is cool enough to safely work with, use one hand to gently pour the candy syrup over the popcorn while using the other hand to stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. Once you have used all of the syrup, set the syrup pan aside.
5. Still stirring the candied popcorn, add the candy from step 2 to the popcorn-syrup mixture. It is okay if some of the candies begin to melt while others remain intact.
6. Once the candy-popcorn mixture is cool enough to touch, wet your hands with water or a dab of cooking oil. Shape the candy-popcorn mixture into balls about 3 inches in diameter, placing each on the baking sheet as you go.
7. Once they are cool and set, wrap each popcorn ball in cellophane.