Caramel Popcorn Sundae
Caramel pudding, caramel-coated popcorn, fudge chunks. Assembled cold at a picnic table.
- calories
- 480
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 137
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 240 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- No cook
- Cooler only
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant butterscotch or caramel pudding mix | 1 box (about 3.4 oz) | stands in for the caramel ice cream |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 1/2 cup | reconstitutes into the pudding, no cooler needed |
| Popped popcorn | 4 cups | popped at home |
| Caramel sauce | 1/2 cup | squeeze bottle, shelf-stable |
| Caramel or vanilla fudge | 4 oz | firm fudge, not the soft kind |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- At home, warm about half the caramel sauce, toss it through the popcorn, spread it on a sheet pan, and let it dry until it stops being sticky. Bag it.
- In camp, shake the pudding mix and milk powder together with 240 ml of cold water in a lidded jar or wide-mouth bottle. Thirty seconds, hard.
- Let it stand five minutes. It sets without any cold beyond what the water gives you.
- Cut the fudge into small cubes with whatever knife you have.
- Spoon the pudding into cups, pile the popcorn on, scatter the fudge, and squeeze the rest of the caramel over the top.
- Eat it now. The popcorn goes soft within a few minutes of hitting the pudding.
The original is ice cream, which is a non-starter without a freezer. Instant pudding does the same structural job: it is sweet, cold-ish, and thick enough to hold toppings without them sinking. Milk powder plus cold water sets it in about five minutes, no stove and no fridge.
The caramel popcorn has to be coated and dried at home. Toss it in warm caramel sauce, spread it out, let it firm up, and it travels as a dry crunchy thing instead of a sticky mass. That crunch is the whole point of the dish against a soft base, so assemble at the last second and eat it fast.
Packing
Pudding mix and milk powder go in one bag, premeasured. Caramel popcorn in a rigid container or it turns to crumbs by day two. Fudge in its own bag, wrapped, because it will pick up every other smell in the food bin.
Variations
- Instant vanilla pudding plus a spoonful of brown sugar if you cannot find caramel mix.
- Broken pretzels in place of half the popcorn push it further toward salty.
- Skip the milk powder and use a coconut milk powder to make it dairy-free.
https://meny.no/oppskrifter/dessert/karamellis-med-karamellisert-popcorn-og-fudge