Pop-corn Balls

Add one ounce of white gum arabic to a half pint of water and let it stand until dissolved.

Strain the mixture.

Add one pound of refined sugar and boil until, when cooled, it becomes very thick, so much that it is difficult to stir.

To determine when it has reached this point, cool a little sample in a saucer.

Place a convenient quantity of freshly popped corn in a milk pan.

Pour enough of the warm syrup over the corn and stir to coat the kernels, causing them to adhere into a mass.

While the mass is warm, press portions into balls with your hands.

Use ordinary molasses or sugarhouse syrup boiled to the same degree instead of gum arabic; no gum is necessary with these materials.

For corn cake, prepare a similar mass, put it into tins, press it with rollers into thin sheets, then divide into small square cakes.