Birthday Cake Popcorn

Makes about 16 cups

16 cups popped popcorn
4    tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¾   cup dry yellow or white cake mix
1½ cups white chocolate chips, melted
2    teaspoons vegetable oil
½   cup rainbow nonpareils or sprinkles, or a
      combination

Nutritional information per 1-cup serving:
Calories 175 (50% from fat) • carb. 22g • pro. 1g fat 10g • sat. fat 7g • chol. 8mg • sod. 138mg calc. 1mg • fiber 1g

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet
with parchment paper; reserve.
2. Put the popcorn in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle
the butter over the popcorn; toss to coat.
Spread on the prepared baking sheet. Sift the
cake mix over the popcorn and toss to evenly
coat. Bake the popcorn for 10 minutes, tossing
once halfway through baking. (This step, known
as heat treating, cooks off the raw taste of flour
in the cake mix and eliminates any risk of
harmful bacteria that can be found in raw
ingredients.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool
completely.
3. Once the popcorn is cool, dip a fork into the
white chocolate, and drizzle from the tines of
the fork onto the popcorn, reserving a little of
the chocolate. Sprinkle most of the nonpareils
and/or sprinkles evenly over the top. Transfer to
the freezer to set.
4. Break up the coated popcorn and arrange so
any bare pieces of popcorn are exposed.
Drizzle with the remaining white chocolate and
then add the remaining nonpareils and/or
sprinkles.
5. Return to the freezer to set. When the chocolate
is firm, remove from the freezer and serve
immediately.