Sweet Popcorn Balls

Halloween is just about a month away now and my mind has turned to treats that I can make with the kids. I may make some of these to hang around the house but I’m not sure they’ll last long enough to be viewed.

Popcorn is a popular snack in our house.  I make it the old fashioned way on the hob with a little oil in a saucepan.  If I’m stuck I will use a bag in the microwave but it just doesn’t compare flavour wise with the real deal.  You’re often left with a slick of oily coating on the roof of your mouth from the ingredients used to coat the kernels in the bag.

A reader recently requested a snack that she could have of a weekend evening with a glass of wine.  Snacks with a glass of wine don’t really happen around here without the children pulling at the plate for a taste so I needed to make something that would appeal to small tastes as well.  You can leave the salt out of chocolate sauce if you prefer and then it is just as nice for children as it is for you.

These sweet popcorn balls are best served on the day they are made but you can eat them up to 3 days after popping the corn, however I doubt they’ll last that long!

For a children’s party, fill wafer cones with the mixture before placing a popcorn ball on top. It’s eat-in-your-hand finger food with no plates to wash up. I’m sure I don’t need to mention cautionary tales about children eating popcorn unsupervised etc, we’ve all heard them!

Ingredients (for the popcorn balls)

• 2 tablespoons Sunflower Oil
• 50g Popcorn Kernels
• 100g White Marshmallows
• 25g Unsalted Butter

Ingredients (for the Salted Chocolate Sauce)

• 75g Dark Chocolate
• 10g Unsalted Butter
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 1 pinch of sea salt flakes

Equipment

• Medium Saucepan with secure lid
• Baking Tray lined with greaseproof paper
• Large Spoon
• Large Bowl
• Sunflower oil for greasing your hands when rolling the balls

Method

1. Put the sunflower oil and popcorn kernels into the medium saucepan. Secure the lid firmly and place onto a high heat on the hob.
2. Once you hear the first pop, move the saucepan off the direct heat for 1 minute.
3. Return the saucepan to the hob and once the busy popping has eased off you should have a full saucepan of popped corn.
4. Empty the popcorn into the lined baking tray and leave to cool.
5. Wash and clean your saucepan. Now put 25g of unsalted butter into the saucepan on a low heat.
6. Once melted add 100g white marshmallows (you can use any colour but it will make for an odd hue on the popcorn balls so I use white only).
7. Stir well until the marshmallow melts completely into the butter and you have a creamy white mixture.
8. Pour the liquid marshmallow into the bottom of the large bowl. Add the cooled popcorn on top then stir well until every piece is coated.
9. Use some sunflower oil to rub onto both your hands to roll the popcorn mixture into sweet popcorn balls. It stops it sticking.
10. Fill the ice cream cones if you’re using them before rolling smaller balls to place on top.
11. Leave the balls on the greaseproof paper to come to room temperature.
12. To make the sauce, put the dark chocolate, remaining unsalted butter and golden syrup into the saucepan, once it has been cleaned, on a low heat on the hob.
13. When the chocolate has melted completely and all the ingredients have been stirred together add a pinch of sea salt flakes before pouring over your popcorn balls and leaving them to cool.