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Candy Corn Pumpkin Spice Popcorn Balls

Sweet, sticky and spiced up, these popcorn balls have a hint of pumpkin spice and are studded with candy corn.

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Why it works: Pumpkin and corn work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 286 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 10
Prep10 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Melt the salted butter in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat.

  2. Add the jumbo pumpkin marshmallows and stir constantly until fully melted and smooth, about 5 minutes.

  3. Stir in the ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger and ground cloves until evenly combined. Remove the pot from the heat.

  4. Place the popped popcorn in a very large heatproof bowl.

  5. Pour the warm marshmallow mixture over the popcorn and toss quickly with a spatula or greased spoon until every piece is coated.

  6. Let the mixture cool for 3 to 5 minutes, just until it is comfortable to handle.

  7. Fold in the candy corn so it is spread evenly through the popcorn.

  8. Lightly dampen your hands with a splash of water, then press portions of the mixture firmly into 10 balls.

  9. Set the popcorn balls on a parchment-lined tray and let them cool and firm up at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving.

By tastykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Pumpkin + corntop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together286 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,027 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, corn):

  1. Allspiceabout as good a flavor fit
  2. Cardamomabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).