Popcorn Cake

[amybeth]

I apologize if I stole this recipe from someone on this site. I did a quick look back, and I didn't see it here. I printed it off of Emeril's site.

Such an easy recipe and able to be adapted for any celebration - or snacktime.

Ingredients -

12 cups plain, unbuttered, unsalted popcorn (POPPED)

16 oz marshmallows

1/4 c. veg. oil

1 cup lightly salted cocktail peanuts

1 cup M & M's

1 stick unsalted butter (not margarine)

For directions go to this site:

Open Original Shared Link

"Extras" like M&M's and Nuts can be switched to whatever you feel like. We used 1/2 plain M&M's and 1/2 mint M&M's.

We used Christmas colors to make it festive. It ends up like rice-crispy treats out of popcorn in the shape of a bundt cake.

CUTE!

Could use food coloring too to make it festive - cinnamon hearts for Valentines day, school colors for a bake sale, etc.

My mom's using it as part of her centerpiece for Christmas dinner b/c it's so "cheery" looking - and totally safe for us to eat!

[Viola 1]

How cool is that! Thanks Amy

[Juliebove]

My friend's mom used to make this for her birthday every year. If you have additional food issues, you can sub in coconut oil for the butter and any other candy or nuts you like. I've used gumdrops and dairy/soy free chocolate chips.

[Alvina214]

I thought Celiacs weren't allowed to have gumdrops, m&m's (emulsifier) or redhots (red dye 40)???

Just thought I'd check and see what you guys might know.

Thanks

[amybeth]

I don't know about gumdrops, but I've had M&M's without any noticeable problems - mint, plain, and peanut.....Anyone else?

[Sweetfudge]

i've had plain, almond and peanut w/ no problems that i know of...

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

I know M&M's are fine (or at least the companty says they are), I have never heard of Red Dye being correlated to Celiac.

[Juliebove]

My friend's mom used to make this for her birthday every year. If you have additional food issues, you can sub in coconut oil for the butter and any other candy or nuts you like. I've used gumdrops and dairy/soy free chocolate chips.

I think it depends on the brand. My daughter doesn't have celiac but has a wheat and gluten allergy.

At this site, it says these things are safe:

Open Original Shared Link

"Sweets

Sugar; honey; maple syrup, non-buttered syrup; molasses; most jellies and jams; plain hard candy; marshmallows; gumdrops; and homemade or commercial candies made with allowed ingredients."

Now I certainly would not be so bold as to say all gumdrops are safe. I've learned I have to check each label every single time. Daughter had been eating Mentos which we thought were safe and now the label says the contain glucose syrup (wheat). Now it's possible they always did and we did not realize they were making her sick. We now know that a single Mentos will cause a nosebleed not long after she's done eating it. Her symptoms are not necessarily the same as celiac although she does also have stomach issues from some foods. Prior to that we had linked her nosebleeds to the peanut oil (peanut allergy) they used to roast previously safe cashews in. Each time I fail to check a label, this is what happens!

But AFAIK, most jelly candies are gluten free. My daughter is allergic to M & M's and some of the other candies you'd typically put in a popcorn cake. So we have to get creative.

[brendygirl]

My Grandma made this for Christmas. It was BEAUTIFUL. She is kind of martha stuart-esque and she said some of the chocolate candy or something was melting and making streaks of chocolate, but she just went with it and it looked cool, plus she put it on a cake pedistal and it was the centerpiece. Nobody had ever seen anything soo unique. It was quite a conversation piece and everyone could eat it. Kids liked it, too.

[BFreeman]

My Grandma made this for Christmas. It was BEAUTIFUL. She is kind of martha stuart-esque and she said some of the chocolate candy or something was melting and making streaks of chocolate, but she just went with it and it looked cool, plus she put it on a cake pedistal and it was the centerpiece. Nobody had ever seen anything soo unique. It was quite a conversation piece and everyone could eat it. Kids liked it, too.

We like this recipe halved and made into popcorn bars. I pop a bag of Redenbacher kettle corn (no butter and not much sweet; I haven't made plain popcorn in so long I'm not sure I remember how), then use the whole cup of salted peanuts and about 1 and 1/2 cups of candy (I like the Reese's baking pieces that are like tiny peanut butter cups; putting them in the refrigerator first helps a little with the melting when you pour the hot marshmallow mixture over). I use a little more than half the bag of marshmallows since I'm using more than half the recipe on the nuts and candy, and then spray a piece of waxed paper with Pam to press them down into the pan. I'm always after good ideas for lunch boxes that won't be refrigerated and this worked well for that.

BF