Caramel apples
Check it out, I’m blogging about something not related to my kid.
I made caramel apples today. I haven’t tried one yet, but they’re pretty. My concern is that the caramel seems a little grainy (gleaned from the fact that I ate the dregs out of the pot with a spoon). The taste is good, though.
I halved a recipe, and the recipe indicated the full version would coat 8-10 apples. I found the half recipe to be barely enough to cover 3, which was fine since that was how many I wanted to make, but just keep this in mind.
Step 1:Â toast and salt your nuts (optional)
All I keep around is kosher salt, which I knew wouldn’t stick to the nuts well, so I dissolved some in a little water, tossed the pecan pieces in it, and then toasted them up in a skillet until the water was evaporated and the nuts were kind of toasty. I think they’re too salty to eat on their own (next time I’ll use either more nuts or less salt), but I think they’ll be a good foil for the caramel and apples.
Step 2:Â Prepare your apples
While the nuts are cooling, wash your apples thoroughly. I used some all-natural dish soap and scrubbed them really well. The goal is to get rid of the coating that makes them shiny, because it also keeps the caramel from adhering. Then stick skewers up their butts. I looked at the store for skewers, and I couldn’t find any, but these chopsticks were cheap and kind of cool.
Step 3:Â Prepare your caramel
(This is for a half-batch.)
1.5 Tbsps butter
.75 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsps whipping cream
scanty pinch kosher salt
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, water, and cream; stir until smooth. Bring slowly to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Let it simmer for 3 minutes (in retrospect, I think I’d let it go a little longer). Keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t boil over. That’s a real mess. It will be really bubbly, but try to keep it under control.
Remove from heat and let it cool. It’s ready when it falls from the spoon in ribbons a bit thicker than what you see in the picture.
Step 4:Â Coat your apples
Coat the apples in caramel, the coat in nuts. I did all three apples in caramel and pressed some nuts onto the sides, but you could go immediate from caramel to nuts if you want, which would improve the nut coverage (Mine won’t have any on the bottoms, obviously). You could also get wild and use other coatings, like chocolate chips or coconut or candies or something, but I personally find the caramel sweet enough and find too many coatings to be overkill. But hey, do what makes you happy.
The recipe suggests letting them chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours, but mine wouldn’t fit in there with the chopsticks and all. They seem to be doing okay on the counter.
