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Valerie’s Christmas Poppycock Recipe

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poppycock recipe
Valerie’s Christmas poppycock recipe.
My Grandmother Maude would bring white Popcorn Cakes to our house for Christmas every year when I was little. They would be formed in an angel food cake pan and absolutely gorgeous. How we would sniff and scratch at them before “the big day”! We were finally allowed to break them apart and eat them Christmas Day. As we grew, she started bringing the gooey delicious popcorn clusters in ice cream pails. She would add red and green cherries and it was much easier to snatch a bite before of Christmas Day! When I started making my own, I used her recipe at first. It was basically a popcorn ball recipe. Who doesn’t like them? But, I loved caramel corn, so over the years, developed the recipe below. It has been a family favourite for years! If you are going to use the nuts in this poppycock recipe, do toast them first. The ju-jubes add such a holiday touch and the kiddies love them. From our house, to yours, Merry Christmas!
  • Serving Size: will fill into an angel food cake pan if patted down (a lot)
  • Cook Time:
  • Prep Time: one hour total (but who only makes one?) I make 8 batches in two hours.

Ingredients

Prepare the following ingredients for the poppycock recipe in advance:
Pop 11 cups of popcorn ( 1/2cup of kernels popped in oil makes about 11 cups of popped corn)
1 cup of salted mixed nuts, toasted
1/2cup of red and green jujubes, cut up (optional)
a buttered mixing bowl (place popped corn topped with jujubes in here)
a cookie sheet, buttered, or layered with parchment paper
2 candy thermometers
Place all of the following ingredients into a heavy pot, or into a bowl if making several batches:
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2t cream of tartar
Have these ingredients ready to add to the caramel immediately upon temperature:
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of nuts (the same cup toasted from the above ingredient list)

Directions

Toast all nuts, pop corn, cut up jujubes

Place 11 cups of popped corn (or 1/2 cup unpopped corn, popped) into a large buttered bowl

Sprinkle the cut up red and green jujubes over the popcorn
Place middle 4 ingredients into a heavy pan, insert candy thermometers, and bring to a boil on medium heat
Get the cup of toasted nuts ready to pour into the caramel once it reaches temperature; pour 1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda into the nuts; have the vanilla ready
Watch your thermometer and use ice cubes for testing, too: you want the caramel a little past soft ball stage (watch this carefully, as it takes quite a while to approach this temp, and then it is suddenly there – if let go higher, it makes a very brittle product)
Once it reaches 250°F on the candy thermometer, turn off heat and remove from stove top immediately and add the nuts with the soda and vanilla
Stir to combine vigorously and quickly pour over popcorn and jujubes
Using a wooden spoon, stir caramel into the corn gently, but firmly: you do not want to crush the corn, but you do want to distribute the hot caramel over every piece of popped corn
Spread poppycock on parchment covered cookie sheet, and flatten in small clusters
Cool, the pack in airtight containers to store (also freezes well)

Filed Under: Christmas, Holidays and Celebrations

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