The Betty Crocker team totally has their finger on the pulse of this year’s Red Hot Holiday Trends and my favorite is definitely Popcorn Reinvented. I‘m always a fan of still warm, crunchy, freshly popped corn…and secretly, I enjoy it with a tall glass of milk. It sounds weird, but it’s totally a winning combo. For a frozen twist on a favorite snack, I made this Dulce de Leche Popcorn Ice Cream with Almonds & Coconut. I love to infuse the puffed & popped kernels into the indulgent ice cream base, swirl it with dulce de leche and stud it with buttery, salted almonds, and toasted coconut. It’s almost like a nutty, coconut dusted, caramel corn…but in ice cream form!
Be sure to check out all of the festive contributions from my fellow Betty Bloggers, as well as Betty’s twist on Popcorn Reinvented with this amazing Triple-Caramel Popcorn Fudge! You can see my other contributions to the Betty site HERE.
[recipe]
Dulce de Leche Popcorn Ice Cream with Salted Almonds and Coconut
Adapted from THIS recipe.
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
8 cups popcorn*
5 teaspoons cornstarch
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dulce de leche
1/2 cup toasted coconut
1/2 cup salted almonds, coarsely chopped
In a medium saucepan heat the heavy cream with the popcorn (the popcorn will basically wilt away, so if it seems like a lot, it won’t be), bring to a low boil, cover, remove from heat and steep for 1 hour. Sieve the popcorn cream through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much cream as possible. Discard solids, you should have about 1 cup of cream remaining, if less add cream to make 1 cup.
Mix 1/4 cup of the milk with the cornstarch to create a slurry. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan mix together the popcorn cream with the remaining 1 3/4 cups milk, add the sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Heat the mixture and bring to a low boil, quickly whisk in the slurry mixture and return to a boil, whisking until thickened–about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Pour the ice cream base into a heatproof bowl and either cool, while whisking, in an ice bath, or cover the surface with plastic wrap or a parchment round (making sure the plastic or parchment comes in direct contact with the ice cream base, to prevent a skin from forming) and chill in the refrigerator for several hours until cooled, up to overnight. Churn the chilled base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions. Spoon about 1/3 of the churned ice cream into your desired container and layer on 1/3 of the dulce de leche, coconut, and almonds, repeat with the remaining ice cream and mix-ins. Cover and freeze the ice cream for several hours, until firm, before serving.
*To pop the corn without a popcorn popper, you will need:
1/2 cup popping corn
paper lunch bag
Place the popcorn kernels in the bag, fold the bag top 2-3 times, microwave on high until the corn is popping like crazy, followed by 1-2 second pauses between pops–about 3 1/2 minutes. This may take some trial and error, just be watchful–you may have to pop it in 2 batches. This made me about 9 cups of popcorn–I used 8 and snacked on the remaining cup. [/recipe]
Full disclosure, I contribute regularly to BettyCrocker.com and was compensated for the development of this post. As always, all opinions are my own.
Tieghan
SO AWESOME!! This popcorn is incredible. I the love coconut and the popcorn with the dulce de lech and the salted almonds!! Just incredible and SO, So, SO good! I can only imagine this is one heck of a holiday treat!
cindy
It’s definitely an indulgent one ๐
Katrina @ WVS
This is such a neat flavour!! Love this!
cindy
Thanks Katrina!!
Maggie @ A Bitchin' Kitchen
Hooooly moly, this looks awesome. I can’t get enough of the sweet and salty combination, so I LOVE the idea of a popcorn ice cream!
cindy
Sweet and salty always wins! Thanks, Maggie!
Samina | The Cupcake Confession
Pop corn ice cream??? Woooow!!!! I can’t wait to make this!!! I am a sucker for dulce de leche and to combine these two favorite treats into an ice cream and then add almonds and coconut to it!!! My heart is crying with happiness! ๐ *-*
cindy
haha! Thanks, Samina!
Erika
CINDY…This is brilliant!! I might be that person who crushes popcorn on top of their ice cream while people give me weird looks. I need to make this asap!
cindy
Thanks, girl! You know I like your popcorn + ice cream style!
Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe
YES. Just…yes. I suddenly have an intense craving for popcorn ice cream!
cindy
YES! It’s so good and really…popcorn-y, ha!
Yvette @ Muy Bueno
You have one gorgeous blog here! So happy to meet a fellow Betty blogger! Anything with Dulce de Leche is a winner in my book. YUM!
cindy
Thanks Yvette! Yay, Betty!
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps
Love.everything. So many flavors and so so perfect!!
cindy
Thanks, Nicole! It’s a little wild in the flavor dept, but so good!
molly yeh
that’s it. i need an ice cream maker. i don’t care if it’s about to dip into negative temperatures outside.
cindy
YES you do! You can always throw on another sweater…
Corey @ Family Fresh Meals
Annnnnnd now I need to buy an ice cream maker. This recipe looks AMAZING!
cindy
I LOVE my ice cream maker, it’s totally worth it ๐
Stephanie @ Girl Versus Dough
Popcorn and ice cream are like my preggo kryptonite right now… and COMBINING THE TWO? Mind = blown.
cindy
Well, this is just for you and your gummi bear, then!
Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen
Umm…hello, you are cute! This ice cream sounds soooo delicious. And I love love the propping you got goin’ on!
cindy
Thanks, girl! I was trying to be festive ๐
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme)
So creative!!!! Just love it all. Can’t even pick a favorite part ๐
cindy
Thanks, Laura!!
Rachel @ Bakerita
Mmmm……dulce de leche, popcorn, ice cream…all good things. All things I would love to be eating right now. Love it all.
cindy
Thanks, Rachel!
Amy | Club Narwhal
Cindy, I CAN’T EVEN RIGHT NOW!!!! This is like the combination of everything I love in the world. And I have popcorn for dinner more often than I should probably admit (just last night, in fact). This salty sweet thing going on here is totally making my day!
Hannah
These look so good Cindy! Will you give us the links to your Betty Crocker recipes? (:
cindy
Yes! Thanks! Here’s a link to my Betty recipes ๐ http://www.bettycrocker.com/menus-holidays-parties/team-betty/friends/cindyensley
Sigourney
So I also love popcorn, but even more I LOVE it with a tall glass of chocolate milk! I have had people give me weird looks for years, so it is great to know I am in company!