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Candies and Candy Making: Popcorn

POPCORN CANDY Popcorn is used as an ingredient of candies in several forms, including the ordinary popcorn balls, popcorn cakes, bars, or nougats, and crystallized popcorn.

Choose for this purpose a quality of popcorn which pops light and tender, and select only the kernels that are fully open, discarding burned or partially opened kernels.

Shake the corn in a coarse sieve to free it from dust and chaff. It will be found a great aid in popping corn to swing a wire from a hook in the ceiling having a loop at the right height above the stove through which the handle of the popper can be passed. Thus the popper may be held over an open coal fire with less labor.

To roll popcorn balls, dip the hands into very cold water before forming each ball and work quickly before the candy hardens. To improve the appearance of the balls, and also to prevent them sticking to the fingers, cut out a piece of tissue or waxed paper in circular form by cutting around the edge of a large pie plate, lay the ball on this, bring the edges together and twist them up at the top. Store popcorn balls in a cold place to prevent the popcorn from becoming tough. To Make Popcorn Balls.-Boil to the thread about 2½ pounds of sugar with pound of glucose and 1 pint of water. Place the popcorn in an earthenware bowl, pour the sirup over it, mix with 2 wooden paddles and form into balls with the wet hands.

Or boil pint of molasses about 12 minutes to the stiff-ball degree.

Place 2 quarts of popcorn in a wet earthenware bowl, pour the boiling molasses over it, mix with paddles, and roll with the wet hands.

Or for a better quality of popcorn balls for home use, add to the above a good-sized piece of butter and flavor with lemon extract or otherwise as desired.

Or boil to the hard snap 1 pint of sugar, teaspoonful of butter, 1 tablespoonful of vinegar with about teacupful of soft water.

Have ready about 1 peck of freshly popped corn in a wet pan or tub, dip the boiling sirup over it, mix with wooden paddles, roll with the wet hands.

Popcorn Cakes. - Prepare sirup according to any of the above rules, but crush the corn with a rolling-pin.

Stir the corn into the kettle when the sirup is at the hard-snap stage, and pour into buttered tins. Lay over the top a piece of buttered or waxed paper, and let stand under pressure to harden. When cold and hard cut into cakes with a thin, sharp knife blade.

Crystallized Popcorn.-Place in an iron kettle or frying pan 1 teacupful of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoonful of butter, or less, 3 tablespoonfuls of water. Boil to the hard snap, stir in 2 or 3 quarts of popcorn and continue stirring until it is entirely dry. This amount of sirup will give a heavy coating of sugar to 2 quarts, or a lighter coat to 3 quarts.

A beginner is apt to think that the sirup is not sufficient for the quantity of corn, but with constant stirring it will come out all right. Continue to stir until the corn is dry, but take care that the fire is not hot enough to scorch it. Nuts may be crystallized in a similar way.