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Pop-corn Balls

Popcorn balls made from popped corn coated with molasses or sugar and vinegar, then molded into balls.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and corn work together. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 644 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Pop-corn Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the popcorn

  1. Take three large ears of popcorn (rice is best).

  2. After popping, shake it down in a pan so the unpopped kernels settle at the bottom.

  3. Put the popped corn in a greased pan.

Make the candy

  1. For the candy, take one cup of molasses, one cup of light brown or white sugar, one tablespoonful of vinegar.

  2. Boil until it hardens in water.

Combine and shape

  1. Pour the candy over the corn.

  2. Stir with a spoon until thoroughly mixed.

  3. Mold into balls with the hand.

  4. Do not add any flavor to the mixture.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

61Calories
0 gProtein
0 gFat
15 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Molasses + corntop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together644 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Vinegar + corntop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together927 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Provides dark sweetness and sticky body that binds the popcorn together.
Light brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the candy harden as it cooks.
Vinegar
Adds a little acidity that helps keep the candy from turning grainy.
Popcorn (in the method)
Forms the light, crisp base that the candy coats and holds together.

The step that matters

Boil until it hardens in water. Sugar syrup must reach the hard-crack stage to set firm when cooled. Undercooked syrup stays sticky and the balls will not hold their shape.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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