One of my favorite things about fall is caramel and candy apples. Every year when we go to the pumpkin farm, it is always one of the things that I pick up at the farm market. This year, in addition to the ones we got at the farm market we decided to try and make some at home, because caramel apples don’t just have to be for Halloween.
My special helper for the project was my stepson, N. I bought the caramel apple kit from Concord Foods from Giant Eagle. In addition I used:
- sugar
- milk
- 6 apples
- candy thermometer (I used a meat thermometer and it worked just as well.)
- saucepan
- candy sticks
I began by mixing the packet that came in the box and eight ounces of milk into a two quart saucepan. Using medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil for about two minutes. Stir constantly.
Stir in 2.5 cups of sugar and continue to cook at medium heat while stirring occasionally. The mixture should be cooked until the soft ball stage. The soft ball stage is when the temperature reaches 242 degrees. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can tell when the caramel has reached the soft ball stage when a drop of caramel, when dropped into a glass of very cold water, can be rolled into a ball between your fingers.
While you are working on cooking the syrup, go ahead and put the candy sticks into the apples.
After you have the sticks in the apples, place them on a cookie sheet. I put a sheet of nonstick aluminum foil underneath so that it would make for easier clean up. When the syrup has reached the soft ball stage, remove it from the stove and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.
After the syrup has cooled, fully dip each apple into the syrup and rotate slowly as you take it out of the syrup. This allows any excess syrup to drip off and back into the pan. Once all apples have been dipped store in the refrigerator until they are ready to eat!
For a little more fun you can add chopped nuts or coconut to the caramel apples while they are still warm! Yummy!
Do you have any favorite fall recipes?
