Cider Mill Coven | Apple Cider Caramel Popcorn
Three young cousins coming of age in the 90’s discover they are witches and are nurtured/vexed by their enchanting grandmother.
Cider Mill Coven is for those who are all about the vibes and world discovery. Not much happens in the first 3/4 of the book. A lot of information is given about setting, magic, and side characters, but you’re not quite sure where the plot is headed, what the stakes are, or what exactly you’re supposed to care about. The writing felt very much like a middle grade to me, with a few f-bombs thrown in. While I did enjoy the 90’s references, I sadly found this book a bit of a slog to get through. It needed either higher stakes sooner or to be a deeper character study for me.
⭐️⭐️✨
One of the cousins, Raven, wants to be a filmmaker and works at a cinema serving popcorn. During a shift, a magical occurrence happens and, along with her cousins, she must come to terms with the fact that she is a witch. To do so, they stay at their grandmother’s orchard to learn all that she knows. Throughout the book, Raven struggles between her desires to be a filmmaker and to fully embrace her role in the Cider Mill Coven. This is where the inspiration for this popcorn began. Melding her two worlds together into one perfect bite. Apple cider is turned into a sticky sweet caramel, tossed with popcorn and then baked until crisp. Who needs to choose one future when you can have it all?
Have you read Cider Mill Coven? What were your thoughts?
Apple Cider Caramel Popcorn
2 cups spiced apple cider
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 ¼ cups light brown sugar, packed
½ cup unsalted butter
⅓ cup corn syrup
20 cups popped popcorn (⅔ cup unpopped)
Boil apple cider in a small saucepan until evaporated by half (1 cup). This will concentrate the apple flavour and should take about 20 minutes.
Stir in the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, orange zest, brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook until it just reaches the hard-ball stage (250ºF), about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 250ºF.
Pour caramel over popcorn in a large metal or glass bowl, tossing to combine. Start with a spoon but, as it cools you can mix it together with your hands if that’s easier. Spread out between 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes. Use a spoon to toss again, in the pan, to make sure everything is evenly coated. Bake an additional 10 minutes.
Place more parchment paper onto a table or countertop, giving enough room to spread the popcorn without it piling on top of itself. When popcorn is done, dump it onto the parchment paper and spread out with a spoon. Once it is cool enough to handle, break up the pieces further with your fingers and allow to cool completely to harden before storing in a zip top bag.
Adapted from Culinary Ginger.
Hi I’m Cheri, I’ve been staying up too late reading since I was a kid hiding under the covers with a flashlight.