Popcorn Halloween Tradition Tweaked

Sweet Poppins is a artisan food company right here in Indiana that specializes in chocolate covered caramel corn.  They sent us two varieties for this year's Halloween Treat Challenge: Caramel Apple Cobbler and Chocolate Peanut Butter.  Sweet Poppins may be an Indiana business but they've been hobnobbing with the rich and famous for a while now.  Check out their Media tab to see whose had their popcorn treats.

The Caramel Apple Cobbler came in an 8 ounce bag.  There isn't an ingredient list but Tashia, the lady I've been working with for this holiday at Sweet Poppins, tells me that 95% of the chocolate for these puffy pieces is milk chocolate while 5% is white chocolate to get a more caramel color.  There is definitely a apple cobbler scent as soon as I open the bag.  The pieces crunch a bit but primarily just melt in my mouth.  There is a hint of creaminess to these and a strong tangy sweetness as well with an undercurrent of tart that might be the apple.  Is there chocolate flavor though?  No, not at first, though the creamy taste and the smooth texture are a lot like a very milky chocolate or white chocolate would be.  With each piece though the milk chocolates start to peek through but I'm not sure anyone I gave these to would say "hey this is chocolate popcorn."

The Chocolate Peanut Butter popcorn balls were something Tashia just came up with after making a chocolate peanut butter popcorn cake!  Two are just balls and two are on sticks; either way eat carefully cause they will fall apart as you enjoy them.  The peanut butter fragrance is the principle one I catch as soon as unwrap them but the milk chocolate is also there making me think of peanut butter cups.  These are much less crunch and very sticky, duh, they are popcorn balls, that is in their nature.  The peanut butter flavor is less than the chocolate, an inverse of the scent.  Once more these chocolate covered kernels almost melted in my mouth.

The chocolate covered popcorn from Sweet Poppins is excellent, it beat my expectations.  This earns status as a Sacrament but how about a Halloween treat?  I remember eating popcorn balls at Halloween parties, I even remember getting them for trick or treating from trusted neighbors.  With so much paranoia these days I fear popcorn is limited to the trusted party venue.  For a party these are great, especially in the balls though bags of a range of flavors in bowls would be great, too.  You can find Sweet Poppins standard flavors online but they make seasonal treats and take requests as well as work with charities so contact them if you have an idea you'd like to see made into popcorn.