Knalle popcorn: when patisserie craft meets corn
Popcorn counts as a cinema snack. In a Berlin bakehouse it becomes something else: oven-baked gourmet popcorn, made with the know-how of top-class pâtisserie – by hand, in small batches.
From the café in Prenzlauer Berg to the Popkornditorei
The story does not begin with maize, but with sugar. Lucie came from top-class gastronomy and, as chef pâtissier, ran her own café with André in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg. Neighbour Christopher became a regular there – and at some point suggested raising his favourite snack to Lucie’s level.
The first attempts delighted everyone around them. The first Knalle popcorn was served at the Naschmarkt in the Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg, and it was “polished off to the last kernel after a short time”. The Popkornditorei Knalle was founded as a result in 2016, and shortly afterwards the first bakehouse of their own came about in Friedrichshain – without outside capital and, as the team itself says, without great ambition.
Baked twice: the Knalle method
The decisive difference lies in the method. Hand-picked mushroom maize is used, popped with hot air – that is, without fat. This preserves the unadulterated maize aroma and the kernels turn out evenly round and particularly large.
Only then does the creation come into play: the popcorn kernels are coated with the respective recipe, spread on baking trays and baked a second time in the oven. The result is crisp and crunchy on the outside and delicately tender on the inside – a bite you will not confuse with popcorn out of a bag.
Handwork from A to Z
At Knalle every step of the work is done by hand, in the words of the Berliners: “from A (as in all the kernels sieved) to Z (as in the bags sealed up)”. The bags are filled and closed by the partners of the MOSAIK workshops for people with disabilities – a collaboration without which, by Knalle’s own account, the whole thing would not be complete. Since November 2020 the manufactory has been working with reduced CO2 and accounts for its emissions according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
Varieties you remember
The variety names say it all, the combinations are meant seriously. For a limited edition Knalle worked together with star chef Tim Raue: extra caramel meets smoky, warm chipotle chilli heat and the freshness of real lemon there.
In our shop you will find, among others, truffle & fleur de sel, Franzbrötchen, peanut butter & salted caramel, butter caramel & Tahitian vanilla as well as the vegan varieties tonka bean & coconut and dark chocolate with roasted almonds. If you cannot decide: the tasting set is available too – and it is a reliably good present to bring along.
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