Knalle Popkorn: when patisserie craft meets corn

Popcorn is thought of as a cinema snack. In a Berlin bakery it becomes something else entirely: oven-baked gourmet popcorn, made with the know-how of top-class patisserie – by hand, in small batches.

From a café in Prenzlauer Berg to the popcorn patisserie

The story does not begin with corn, but with sugar. Lucie came from fine dining and ran her own café in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg as head pastry chef together with André. Christopher, a neighbour, became a regular there – and one day suggested raising his favourite snack to Lucie’s level.

The first attempts delighted everyone around them. The first Knalle Popkorn was served at the Naschmarkt in Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg, and it was “completely devoured within a short time”. The Popkornditorei Knalle was founded in 2016, and the first bakery of its own followed shortly afterwards in Friedrichshain – without outside capital and, as the team itself puts it, without any grand ambition.

Baked twice: the Knalle method

The decisive difference lies in the method. Hand-picked mushroom corn is popped with hot air – that is, without any fat. This preserves the unadulterated corn aroma and makes the kernels evenly round and particularly large.

Only then does the creation come into play: the popped 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 delicate on the inside – a bite you will not confuse with popcorn from a bag.

Made by hand from A to Z

At Knalle every single step is done by hand – in the words of the Berliners, “from A (as in all kernels sieved) to Z (as in zipped into bags)”. The bags are filled and sealed by the partners of the MOSAIK workshops for people with disabilities – a collaboration that, in Knalle’s own words, is what makes the company complete. Since November 2020 the manufactory has been working with reduced CO2 emissions and reports them according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

Varieties worth remembering

The names say it all, and the combinations are meant seriously. For a limited edition Knalle worked with star chef Tim Raue: extra caramel meets the smoky warmth of chipotle chilli and the freshness of real lemon.

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: there is a tasting set too – and it makes a reliably good gift to bring along.