Baked With Inspiration: Diva Popcorn

Diva Popcorn

Inspiration: Jello popcorn recipe and "Toddlers and Tiaras"

Ok, so I admit this recipe only LOOSELY fits in the baked category. It does spend some time in the oven, but for for a finishing effect more than cooking. Still, I was enamored with the idea of making this candied popcorn, and my life tends to run counter to the norms anyway. Therefore, I decided to stand in the loop hole and go for it!

For the original recipe, go to the any flavored popcorn recipe. When my daughter came home from college on spring break, we scheduled a Toddlers and Tiaras watch-a-thon and wanted to make this popcorn for a snack. Since Toddlers is a show all about "GLITZ" and over the top EVERYTHING, we decided to glitz up the basic recipe. This technique can be adapted for any flavored gelatin that you can find, but we preferred a fruity flavor.

First, pop some popcorn and measure out 12 cups. We used the plain brown paper bag method of popping plain kernels rather than microwaved popcorn, but I would suppose any basic popcorn would work.

Heat one can of sweetened condensed milk and one box of flavored jello on the stove for 4-5 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Be careful to watch it; it burns easily!

Remove from the heat and pour quickly over the popped kernels. Sitr to coat entire batch.

Spread out on a lined cookie sheet. I used a silicone baking mat, but you could use parchment or foil.

Bake at 300 for 20 minutes. The two things to take note of here is the oven temperature and the fact that you will need to stir the popcorn mixture about every 5 minutes. We tried to bake it straight through and burned the first batch. It starts browning on top pretty quickly, so the stirring is essential.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, "Diva-fy" it. We choose to stay with complementary colors, so added various Jelly Belly jelly beans in shades of pink or white, white and red sanding sugar, and peanuts.