Honey Popcorn Balls
A delicious treat or spectacular centrepiece for christmas or party.
Apr 18, 2007
Honey popcorn balls combine two delicious flavours into a sweet snack or these versatile balls can be used to create a wonderful centrepiece for a party or for Christmas. It is very much easier than a choux pastry centrepiece made with profiteroles and it looks just as good.
Individual Honey Popcorn Balls
Individual honey popcorn balls can be made into bite-sized rounds to serve with afternoon tea, they can be made a little larger and used for a snack or children’s party treat.
Christmas or Party Treats
To make them attractive for Christmas or a holiday treat place a ribbon around each honey popcorn ball in the appropriate colours. These look very attractive piled on a plate on a Christmas table with a few christmas decorations added.
Creating a Christmas or Party Centrepiece
To create a spectacular honey popcorn ball centrepiece make the recipe 4x as large. Once the balls have cooled place the first layer of honey popcorn balls in a circle on a pretty serving plate and then build up one layer at a time with each layer getting a little smaller until a cone or Christmas tree shape is achieved. Decorate the centrepiece with a few sprigs of holly, birthday decorations or sparklers. It looks beautiful and is delicious as well.
Chocolate Additions
As an added delight drizzle melted chocolate over your centrepiece creation for an extra delicious touch.
Honey Popcorn Ball Recipe
Ingredients
2 tablespoons oil
½ cup popping corn
¾ cup sugar
80g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cream
Method
To make the popcorn follow the method outlined below OR use plain microwave popcorn or a hot air popcorn maker and no oil.
To Make The Popcorn
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan.
- Add the popping corn and cover tightly
- Shake occasionally as it cooks.
To Make The Honey Syrup
- Combine the butter, sugar, honey and cream in a saucepan.
- Stir over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved
- Brush the sugar crystals from the side of the pan and back into the mixture with a wet pastry brush.
- Bring mixture to the boil and without stirring let it boil for five minutes (watch it doesn’t burn)
To Make The Balls
- Put popcorn into a large bowl
- Pour syrup over the popcorn and mix using two metal spoons – do not touch it with your hands it will burn.
- Keep mixing until mixture is cool enough to touch – be careful the mixture is extremely hot.
- Place a bit of oil into a bowl and oil your hands
- Using your hands quickly form the mixture into balls about the size of a golf balls (or whatever size you need).
- Place balls onto a wire rack or on a baking tray covered with baking paper and allow to cool completely.
Storage
The popcorn balls can be stored for up to 5 days in an airtight container, but they must be totally cold before they are sealed in the container or they will go stale very quickly.
