For weeks I looked forward to taking my daughters to the apple orchard. I decided to keep it a secret until we were ready to go, so when my husband and I were getting them buckled in and told them where we were going, they were extremely excited.
I expected a cool September day as we strolled in and out of the rows of trees and wandered around eating donuts and turnovers. Unfortunately, as the temperature was hot, my girls almost instantly started whining about walking or how heavy their apples were. My oldest daughter ended up getting sick, and my husband lost his keys. Believe it or not, that didn’t ruin my experience. But, that’s probably because I had a bigger picture in mind, and I was taking these sweet apples home to try out a new recipe.
I regularly make salted caramel sauce and it’s the perfect addition to fresh apples. Here is one of my favorite recipes.
I also LOVE apple crisp and although it’s a more labor-intensive recipe than most crisps, this one is totally worth trying!
But, this year I wanted to try something new, so I decided on candy apples, and they were amazing {and BEAUTIFUL}!
Candy Apples
What you’ll need:
- Apples (4-6 small to medium)
- Lollipop sticks
- White food coloring
- Pink (or color of choice) food coloring
- Silpat mat or parchment paper
- Candy thermometer
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- ½ cup water
- 1 ½ cup sugar
Directions:
- Prepare apples by washing and drying them and inserting lollipop stick.
- Gather all ingredients and lay out silpat mat or parchment paper on a pan to set the dipped apples on.
- Mix sugar, corn syrup, water, and food coloring in a pan.
- Bring up to boil over medium heat
- Do not stir sugar as it boils, because it will add bubbles to the mixture and cause sugar to crystalize.
- Continue to heat sugar until it reaches 302 degrees.
- Immediately remove pan from the heat.
- Carefully tip the pan and dip the apple into the hot sugar, letting the excess drip before placing the apple on silpat mat or parchment paper.
Swirl Candy Apples
To create swirl candy apples, follow the same cooking directions as above only use just the white food coloring until the sugar reaches 302. Then, remove from the heat and add 1-2 colors to the hot sugar.
Swirl gently with a rubber spatula, being careful to not mix the colors too much. The less you mix them, the more ‘swirl’ effect will show on the apples.
How do you like to eat your apples? Share your favorite apple recipes with us below!
I had problems with my apples oozing juice from where the stick is inserted. What do you suggest for that. My caramel was good, my chocolate was good, my candy dip was good, but all oozed juice near the stick and ruined the caramel, the choc and the candy.
Any amount of moisture will create problems, which is why I try to leave a little space from the top instead of sub urging completely. Give yourself a little ‘buffer’ space. Also, after inserting your stick, wait a little bit and go back k to make sure they’re completely dry before dipping. I hope this helps!