Urfa Biber Caramel Corn

Great caramel corn is really about flavour, texture, and contrast. It should be light and crisp, not sticky, and I find it boring if it's just uniformly sweet. The texture comes from the method, which I'll get to. The flavour and contrast are where a well-stocked pantry comes in. It's a joy to be able to play with unusual ingredients and see how they work together, and these three are each worth keeping around well after Halloween.

Cocoa nibs are pure roasted cocoa beans, shelled and cracked into small pieces, and so quality makes a big difference here, which is why I stock Valrhona's, from Ghana. Think of them as cocoa before it's turned into chocolate: no sugar, no milk, just a bitter, slightly fruity crunch that holds up in the oven Here they give the caramel some bitterness and depth to lean against. (They're equally delightful in cookie dough or granola, folded through brownie batter, or scattered over oatmeal.)

Urfa biber is grown in the south of Turkey. The peppers are dried and fermented, which turns them a dark red and gives them a fruity, smoky, chocolatey flavour with a gentle heat. It's usually used as a garnish, and here it's scattered over the top before baking, so it clings to the caramel corn.

Urfa and Aleppo pepper get swapped for each other a lot. They're close cousins, but they behave differently. Aleppo is bright red and fruity with a little salt, and it does its best work as a finishing chili: eggs, labneh, roast vegetables, anything you want lifted. Urfa is darker and suits food with more weight, like lamb, beans, braises and chocolate. Chipotle is smoky too, but its smoke comes from actual wood smoke and its heat is more direct.

Golden syrup does the same job as corn syrup in a caramel, keeping the sugar smooth instead of grainy. The difference is flavour. Corn syrup is just sweet, while golden syrup is toasty, buttery and caramel-y tasting straight from the tin. With this few ingredients, you can taste it. It's a British classic made from cane sugar, and you can use it 1:1 anywhere a recipe calls for corn syrup: pecan pie, marshmallows, granola bars, homemade caramels.

Caramel making can be intimidating if you haven't done it before. A candy thermometer is a big help here (you're looking for 240°F), though you don't have to have one. Without it, watch for the caramel just starting to darken at the edges. Either way, pay attention and be careful, because caramel splatters will burn you.

Once the pot is off the heat, whisk in the baking soda. It foams up and fills the caramel with tiny bubbles, which makes it lighter, easier to spread over the popcorn, and crisp rather than sticky. The low oven then dries it out. Toss everything halfway through baking so the coating evens out, and break up any big clusters while it's still warm, because once it cools they're set for good.

Smoked salt goes on at the end, crumbled between your fingers. It picks up the smoke in the urfa and keeps the sweetness in check. It's also good on tomatoes, eggs, chocolate chip cookies and the rim of a mezcal margarita.

Urfa Biber Caramel Corn

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

10 cups freshly popped popcorn (about ⅓ cup kernels)
1 cup (185 g) lightly packed brown sugar
¼ cup (92 g) Tate & Lyle's Golden Syrup
¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
½ cup (113 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
½ tsp baking soda
2 to 3 tbsp Valrhona cocoa nibs
1 tbsp Urfa biber
½ tsp Maldon Smoked Salt, or to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 250°F. Line one large rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
   
   
2. Put the popcorn in your largest bowl.
   
   
3. In a medium pot, bring the brown sugar, golden syrup and kosher salt to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves (about 2 minutes).
   
   
4. Whisk in the butter a few cubes at a time. Boil, stirring often, until the caramel reaches 240°F, or until it just starts to darken at the edges, about 3 to 4 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and whisk in the baking soda. It will foam.
   
   
5. Pour the caramel over the popcorn and toss with two rubber spatulas until evenly coated. Spread it on the baking sheet and sprinkle evenly with the cocoa nibs and Urfa.
   
   
6. Bake about 30 min, tossing after 15 min to even out the caramel on the popcorn.
   
   
7. Out of the oven, crumble the smoked salt over the top between your fingers and toss again. Let it cool, separating any big clusters while still warm.