It doesn’t get more fabulous!
Our girls’ birthdays are only 3 days apart, making them 3 days short of a year apart in age. This has been an absolute blessing because the two of them have been like peas and carrots since the day they met. Fortunately for me, they are also the girliest of girls. Which means I often get to indulge myself in all things pink and pretty. Nowhere does this come out more than at their birthday party each year. So far, they’ve had no qualms about sharing their party day with each other. We’ll see if that continues, but for now, I love planning the day.
This year was the first that our pool was finished and ready for swimming in time for their birthdays, so naturally they asked for a pool party. My husband and I had just returned from a trip to LA where we had brunch in the Cabana Club at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I started showing the girls pictures and they decided that yes, this was the theme they wanted to go with.
The Inspiration
Then it was off to the races…or to Pinterest anyway. I’ll admit, I let myself get carried away a bit, but it was just so dang fun!
I’ll post more recipes from the party soon, but this one focuses on the delicious (and easy) pink popcorn.
Start off by popping about 6 cups of plain popcorn. I use this handy little gadget, but an air popper or even a paper bag will work.
Then in a large, heavy bottomed stock pot, heat 1/2 cup of allulose over medium-high heat. Don’t use any other type of sugar free sweetener. Allulose is the only one I’ve found that doesn’t recrystallize when it cools after caramelizing. See more about sugar replacements here.
You don’t have to put anything else in the pan, just the allulose. In a minute or two it will start to melt. Use a rubber spatula to stir it to keep it from burning.
Once the allulose has melted, add the vanilla (or other flavorings of your choosing). Stir, then add food coloring. I use food coloring gel and just dip the end of a butter knife in the container and swirl it into the melted allulose.
Remove from heat and add popcorn, gently tossing with the rubber spatula until the popcorn is evenly coated (or as evenly as you can get it).
Spread popcorn evenly on a piece of tin foil, or parchment paper to cool. Sprinkle with a bit of sea salt.
Once cool, serve, or store in an air-tight container for up to two days (it will lose a bit of it’s crunch and become more chewy as time goes on).
Perfectly Pink Popcorn
Ingredients
- 6 cups Popped Popcorn
- 1/2 cup Allulose
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract you can add other extracts (ie coconut, maple, etc) if you'd like. Just be careful as some are quite strong. Start with 1/2 tsp and go from there.
- Food Coloring
Instructions
- Pop popcorn, set aside
- In a heavy bottomed stock pot (non-stick), over medium-high heat, melt allulose, stirring with rubber spatula to avoid burning.
- Once melted, add in vanilla and other optional flavorings (if using).
- Remove from heat.
- Add food coloring.
- Pour popcorn into pot and gently mix with rubber spatula to evenly distribute coating.
- Evenly spread on wax/parchment paper or tin foil.
- Sprinkle with flaky salt.
- Once cool, eat immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.