Popcorn Cake
Hi, I’m Pami, Augi’s mom! I’m so excited to join in on the fun and share some of my celebration brainstorming with you. What could be wrong with making everyday a party?! I feel so blessed to be surrounded by many creative and generous people and my hope is to share inspiration I gain from those amazing friends and spread the love!
So, for my first EVER IVii Home Party trick, I’m sharing an old favorite for holiday parties and cozy weekends alike – Popcorn Cake. There are lots of variations of this Special Treat. It tastes great; sort of salty and sweet!
To create a Popcorn Cake in the most basic form you will need the following ingredients and supplies:
- An extra large stainless mixing bowl
- An angel food cake pan with removable center “hole”
- A large glass baking dish
- A flat spatula
- 2 bags – about 7.5 oz each – plain packaged popcorn (I use Skinny Pop or Oke Doke but any brand is ok. Packaged Popcorn is essential to avoid unpopped kernels. Your teeth will thank you.)
- 2 pkgs of marshmallows (large or small- doesn’t matter!)
- 2 pkgs of spicettes*
- peanuts*
- Butter (to prevent sticking to your hands and the bowl)
*these ingredients are not part of the base and can be substituted out as you wish! Nut allergies? No problem. Take ‘em out!
- Dump a bag of marshmallows in the glass baking dish and put in the microwave. Wait to start the time in the microwave until all other ingredients are ready
- Butter the large Stainless Mixing Bowl and Angel Food Cake pan. Save some butter to cover your hands when you are mixing the ingredients.
- Dump 2/3 of a bag of popcorn in the large Mixing Bowl. Scatter a bag of Spicettes followed by 1½ cups of peanuts around the top of the popcorn. Add the remainder of the bag of popcorn and about 1/3 of another bag.
- Microwave the marshmallows for approximately 1minute and 20 sec. (microwaves may vary.) You want the marshmallows to be soft and swollen, but Not begin to harden.
- Wash your hands thoroughly.
- When the marshmallows are swollen and soft, dump them on top of the popcorn, spicette, and peanut mixture. Cover your clean hands with butter (unfortunately, plastic gloves don’t work very well since the marshmallow is so sticky.) Reach with your hands under the popcorn mixture and fold the mixture on top of the warm marshmallows and continue folding the dry ingredients to cover and mix with the sticky marshmallows, which is the bonding agent.
Note: You may need to add more popcorn to get the right ratio of sticky and substance.
- Once all the dry ingredients are covered with sticky marshmallows, place a couple of handfuls inside the angel food cake pan and pack down hard. Add more of the mixture and continue to pack until the entire cake pan is filled and tightly packed.
- Turn the cake pan over onto a platter. Run the spatula around the outside edge of the pan and lift the round section off the popcorn cake. Remove the center section of the pan.
- The cake is complete! It will not dry out and the best part, it does not need to be refrigerated.
We usually make one at the beginning of the weekend, set it in the center of the coffee table and let our happy guests pull off sections and enjoy the tasty treat throughout the weekend. We have been sharing popcorn cakes for decades, but this recipe must be slightly adapted for the situation at hand. In this crazy time of Pandemic when we are avoiding sharing at all costs, you can make individual “Popcorn Balls” and stack them on the platter in the center of the table. This year, we got creative and made a popcorn ball Christmas tree to make individual servings. In the past, individual popcorn cakes have been shared successfully – they fit perfectly in college care packages.
Don’t be afraid to get creative! For Halloween, I sometimes use Candy Corn in place of the Spicettes and add a couple of large spoonfuls of creamy peanut butter with the marshmallows before melting in the microwave for a more “fallish warm hue.” You could even use a large glass baking dish in place of the angel food cake pan to create a “popcorn Graveyard” decorated with spooky Grave Markers. One pro tip – unfortunately chocolate (M&Ms etc) don’t work in this snack because they melt, squish, and make an ugly mess.
Take this fun idea and run with it to fit the theme of your celebration, big or small. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
