Okay it's officially an obsession. What I am trying to do is mix Mexican tradition with Saskatchewan home cooking. I am basically making a form of alegria, which is a candy or cake made with honey, sunflower seeds and popped amaranth. I'm using my mom's recipe for puffed wheat cake to bind the amaranth together in hopes to make tiny skulls for The Day of the Dead.
I tried to pop some of the amaranth seeds from my garden and failed. It's very tricky. I tried an air popper. Big fail and seeds everywhere. So my neighbor told me to look at videos online. I used my Creuset and the stirring method. The trick is to get the heat right to the sweet spot and just know that some of the grains just ain't gonna pop. But hey, I just discovered a cool blog with the microwave method which I must try. I've made one trial run so far, with chia seeds and some puffed millet in the mix as well. Too much butter, so I must try again. The boys were not impressed but I actually love it. Amaranth has a real earthy taste which grounds the sweetness of the chocolate caramel.
Check out these posts: http://theholyenchilada.blogspot.com/2010/05/alegria-past-and-future-of-eternal.html
http://theholyenchilada.blogspot.com/2010/05/abstract-expressionist-amaranth-candy.html
Here is the traditional way of popping amaranth with a recipe for traditional alegria:
http://www.delange.org/Amaranth/Amaranth.htm
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