Sunday, November 8, 2009

Just in time for the holidays


Let me warn you now, this tutorial is extremely detailed with lots of pictures to explain even further the steps and tricks. These candy apples are kind of my husband’s thing and he threatened to never make them again if I didn’t write this up thoroughly.


4 apples (granny smith preferably)

1 14 oz. bag of Caramels

2 tbsp milk

6 oz chocolate (milk or white)

2 tbsp unflavored shortening

Whatever toppings you want!


First, wash the apples and dry them completely. The wax on store bought apples will keep the caramel from sticking. Once washed and dried, place them in the refrigerator so that they are cold when you dip them.


We like using Kraft brand caramels since they taste great and popsicle sticks come in the bag. Push the popsicle sticks in the apples making sure you don’t break through the bottom (1) and place them on a large plate that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.


In a double boiler, start melting the caramels and add 2 tbsp of milk (2). Make sure to keep stirring until all the candies are melted smooth(3).


When all of the candies are melted, remove from heat, tilt to the side, dip your apple, and roll all the sides in the caramel (4). You must be quick about this as the cold apples will help the caramels stick to the apple but if you leave the apple in too long it will re-melt the caramel off of the apple.


When most of the apple is covered, let the excess drip off and scrape the caramel off of the bottom of the apple with a spoon to make it flat (so it sits upright on the plate). They should be so shiny that you can see yourself in them (5). If you have extra, just pour it on top of the apples to totally cover them with caramel (6). You don’t have to worry about it not being smooth because it will be covered up with chocolate and toppings!


We use Ghirardelli melting chocolate because we got a good deal on them, but you can use whatever chocolate you want (7). In a double boiler, start melting the chocolate and add 2 tbsp of shortening. When the chocolate is melted smooth, take it off the heat and let it cool to about room temperature.


You can use anything you want for toppings. Prepare your toppings by chopping them into small chunks. We use a food mill which is like a small food processor. We like this because it doesn’t turn our toppings into a powder. Spread whatever toppings you want on large plates (8).


When the chocolate is cool, dip and roll the apples in the chocolate (9), allow the excess chocolate to drip off and re-dip if you like. You must wait for chocolate to go from shiny to a dull matte and then roll them in the toppings (10).


Refrigerate them for 15 minutes and they’re ready to eat (11)! We found that a tic tac toe cut works best for serving (12).


These are combinations that we found we really liked:


-White chocolate/Oreo

-White chocolate/Brown sugar and cinnamon

-Milk chocolate/Butterfinger

-Milk chocolate/pecans

-or you can mix them all together!


Sorry this tutorial was so long, but these are just so tasty and I wanted to share it with everyone!

5 comments:

  1. These guys are real experts - you should definitely try these. You'll never go back to plain apples again. This recipe ought to be an heirloom!

    Kallan - GREAT post!

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  2. Oooo, thanks for this! I've been so in love with caramel apples this season, I keep thinking I should just make my own. This leaves me no reason NOT to make my own. Thanks!!!

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  3. oh kallan I can't believe I'm missing these this year. I just can't do it on my own it wouldn't be the same. can you just send me some?

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  4. by the way, very fancy photo display, how did you do that? I'm slow or something

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  5. well I'm slow too because I'm sure there is some feature in my photo editing program that automatically arranges the pics, but I do it the hard way. I copy and paste them to a blank page, size them, change the paper size, and move them around to look nice. It takes FOREVERRRR.

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