Pink Popcorn

-- originally posted by Arini

I’ve adapted this tasty treat from this recipe, mostly by shrinking it down to more manageable proportions.  As an engineer, I was also utterly enraged at the fact that the entire recipe was listed in US cooking measurements, but the volume of popcorn was listed in liters.  To prevent other nerds like me from exploding into a blind rage and punching their computer screens, I have convieniently fixed that.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of unpopped popcorn (which filled a 3 quart saucepan for me)
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp raspberry Jell-o
1/3 cup water
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Preheat the oven to 250°F and line one or two rimmed baking sheets with foil.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Place a single kernel of corn in the pan.  When it pops, pour in the rest and shake around until the popping starts to slow down.  Here is where I give you some popcorn advice; do not lose your pot lid and decide to use a lid from a larger pot.  The shaking motion with cause droplets of oil to shoot out from under the ill-fitting lid and land on your burner and range, making tiny fireworks that set off your smoke detector.

Use a large slotted spoon (this one is for fishing delicious fried goods out of a deep-fat fry), scoop the popcorn out into the biggest mixing bowl you can find.  By spooning instead of pouring, you don’t pick up the unpopped kernels.

A-like so

In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar, Jell-O, water and butter to a rolling boil. Cook for 4 minutes, but don’t stir.

Please ignore the state of my range

Swirl the pot every now and then, and use a spatula to gently scrape the bottom of the pan to avoid burning.  It was at this watching and waiting stage that I noticed the mixture had taken on the approximate scent and texture of the strawberry shampoo my younger sister used when she was a kid.  I started to think that this was going to turn out super gross.

Pictured: Hair product?

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and soda.Immediately pour over the popcorn and toss to coat completely (you may want to use both your scoopy and your spatula).  Spread out onto the baking sheets and bake for an hour, stirring at the thirty-minute mark. Set aside to cool, then serve to your certified SUPERFUNTIMES food tester.

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Success!  It turned out delicious!  The fiance says that it tastes like popcorn mixed with cotton candy, which I am pretty sure means he likes it.