Pineapple lump popcorn cake
(This is a picture of a normal popcorn cake. If you make it with Pineapple Lumps, it looks like this, but chocolate-colored.)
There's a candy here in New Zealand which is a bit of a local icon, called "Pineapple Lumps". It consists of pineapple-flavored marshmallows, coated in chocolate. I was discussing this candy with a friend a few weeks back, telling them how odd a candy it is by US candy standards, when I had a great idea. Pineapple Lumps are marshmallows. Popcorn cake is made from marshmallows. Could I make a popcorn cake out of Pineapple Lumps?
So I went to the grocery store that very night, bought a 600g bag of generic "Pineapple Chunks" (an identical pineapple-chocolate-marshmallow candy), and melted 'em down. And it turned out the answer to my question was a resounding "YES". There were points during the process when I was unsure. The chocolate, for instance, melted off the marshmallows quite quickly, and the artificial pineapple flavoring smelled a little unpleasant when it was heated up. But once I'd let the thing sit in my fridge and sliced it up the next day, it was marvellous. The touch of chocolate balanced the sweetness of the marshmallows, and the pineapple came in as a refreshing aftertaste at the end, going well with the dried fruit trail mix I've started using in place of spice drops.
So in that vein, here is my recipe for Pineapple Lump Popcorn Cake. It's essentially identical to my recipe for popcorn cake, but with Pineapple Lumps/Chunks instead of plain marshmallows.
Cookware:
By tradition, I prepare this in a Bundt pan, which is a ring-shaped cake/jello mold, although I've started to think it might work well in a well-greased cookie sheet, cut up into squares. This recipe is scaled for my 1.5L Bundt pan. If your pan is a different volume, you will need to scale your marshmallow/butter mix.
Ingredients:
- 110g (1 US "stick") of butter
- 300g Pineapple Lumps
- 250g trail mix with nuts & dried fruit
- 1.5L fresh popcorn, stovetop or air-popper. (For me, 1/3 cup of kernels cooked on the stovetop in 2-3 tbsp canola oil. See here for a great stovetop popping technique to minimize burnt corn and unpopped kernels)
- Pop enough popcorn to fill your Bundt pan. This should be popped in a hot-air popper or on the stovetop witha bit of oil. Don't use microwave popcorn for this. When you're done popping the popcorn, pour it into your Bundt pan to see how much you need. Pour off the excess into a separate bowl to eat while you cook.
- Pour your Bundt pan full of dry popcorn into a large mixing bowl. This is where you'll mix the popcorn and the melted marshmallow mixture later. Important: When you pour the popcorn into your mixing bowl, do the best you can to get rid of any unpopped kernels (these will be tooth-busters if you leave them in).
- Prepare your now-empty Bundt pan: spray it with non-stick spray or lightly oil it with Canola oil. Keep nearby. Also have your large mixing bowl with your popcorn nearby.
- In a large non-stick pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Wait for it to become completely melted.
- When it is melted, dump in your Pineapple Lumps. Stir them with a wooden psoon until they too are completely melted.
- At this point the clock is ticking because you don't want to overheat the marshmallows and burn them. Dump in the trail mix and stir it around to get it evenly distributed and coated with marshmallow.
- Once the trail mix is stirred in, pour the whole marshmallow mixture from your non-stick pot into your mixing bowl. It's like sticky napalm at this point so be careful with it. Pour it all over your popcorn and use a couple of wooden spoons to start mixing it around. (I find it helps if I have a friend holding the mixing bowl here while I pour.) You'll need to move fast before the marshmallow gets too cool to work with.
- Quickly mix the marshmallow mixture all over the popcorn. In a minute or two it should be cool enough that you can use your hands. If necessary, rub some oil over your hands to avoid them sticking.
- When it's all mixed in, transfer the mixture from your mixing bowl to your Bundt pan. Again, work quickly. Get it all in there and formed around your Bundt pan, and try to make it flat on top. I usually push down on it a bit so that the popcorn gets a little denser and tighter, while I flatten out the top.
- That's it, the hard work is done. Put some plastic wrap over the pan and put it in the refrigerator overnight to set. (It's best to set it right-side-up so that if there's excess marshmallow it will settle at the bottom of the cake rather than at the top, which looks weird.) As a reward, you now get to eat all the marshmallow-covered popcorn and nuts that are stuck to the sides of your mixing bowl.
- After an hour or two, you can pull out the bundt pan, invert the pan over a plate, and knock out the cake. Usually a few hits will do it, but you might have to pry it out with a spatula or butter knife.
- Wait for it to come to room temperature, slice, and serve.