Baked Caramel Corn

(recipe taken from Cookbook for College Kids by Sheila McDougall)

I don't have a photo of my caramel corn (maybe, just maybe because I finished baking it about 20 minutes before we had to leave for th SK Christmas party... What?  Me?  Last minute?? Never...) so I borrowed this beautiful one from the Buns in My Oven blog.  Isn't that the greatest name for a cooking blog?  And look at that goregous shallow depth of field... which happens to be the challenge topic this month over on the Canadian Scrapbooker Hands On! photography blog! Only 5 more days to submit your photo!  Make this recipe and then send me a photo of YOUR caramel corn! :D

But I digress... Here's the recipe!

Baked Caramel Corn
Ingredients:
1 c. (250 mL) butter
2. c (500 mL) brown sugar
1/2 c. (125 mL) corn syrup
1 tsp. (5 mL) salt
1/2 tsp. (2 mL) baking soda
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
6 quarts (6 L) popped corn (I used air popped)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 250*F (120*C).

 Melt butter in a medium saucepan.  Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.  DO NOT STIR.  Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla.

Put popped corn in a well-greased roaster..  Gradually pour syrup over, stir well and bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Happy munching!

A few comments or tips...
- the baking soda will cause your sugar mixture to foam up considerably so make sure you use a large enough saucepan!
- I added my syrup in small amounts, tossing before adding more, to make sure it was covering all of the popcorn evenly
- keep your popped corn in your  buttered oven roaster in your oven, warming, while you make the caramel sauce to make sugar coating it easier!

And lastly, if you want to double the batch, make two separate batches, or decrease your sugar slightly.  I make a double batch and found it very sweet - too sweet, almost!

And be forewarned... you're going to need more than one batch!

Enjoy!