Candy Apples

(scary like hot lava... be very careful)

Dear daughter said she likes candy apples not caramel apples.  Well, I've never made candy or candied apples and thought it would be a fun project.  My dear father picked and gave me 40 pounds of apples and thought "perfect" won't have to decide what kind of apple to use.

I searched the Internet for recipes and they are all basically the same.... sugar, corn syrup, water and food color.  Some add cinnamon flavoring, but DD said no to that.  Cook with a candy thermometer to some where between 280 degrees to 310 degrees depending on the recipe you go with.  I went with the "Mom's Who Think" recipe.  They suggested clove oil and that sounded good to me, but DD said no to cinnamon I better say no to clove.  Easy recipe as I had all the ingredients and supplies at home.  No shopping to do.  Win win.

I had cookie sticks and decided to use them.  Everything from Popsicle sticks to bamboo skewers were suggested.  One thing I didn't even think of as I chose my apples for this recipe was do they stand up straight when sitting on a flat surface.  I had 3 that sat at a strange angle and one that wouldn't stand up at all unless on an angled surface.  Thank goodness for the lip of my pan as you can see the apple on the far left in the back is using it to stay upright.

One thing I noticed most pictures I saw the candied apples had bubbles.  I thought it was the bubbling candy mixture that left bubbles, but I found out that when I put an apple into the hot candy the apple exuded bubbles.  Nothing I could really do about that.  Honestly, I didn't think anyone would say, "That candied apple has bubbles I'm not eating it!"  I did find that the cooler the candy got the less bubbles, but the candy was thicker and it wouldn't swirl on a apple very well.  If I were to do this again that is something to experiment with.

Since I've made candy the recipe was pretty cut and dry.  Cook sugar, corn syrup, water, food coloring mixture until it reached 290 degrees F.  Hard crack on my candy thermometer.  I must say watching the candy bubble and boil til it reached the heat it needed I could see where the candy apple red color comes from for cars.  It's a GORGEOUS color.  After bubbling subsides swirl apples that have been placed on a stick in candy and set on a nonstick surface.  My apples were small so I got 12 covered.

They cooled quickly and DD couldn't wait to try one.  They were as I remembered hard as a rock.  My comment to DD before she bit into one was "don't break a tooth."  She tried cutting the apple into slices and eating it, but still the candy went straight to ones teeth and got stuck.  With lots of saliva and picking one could get it off, but didn't make for a very enjoyable eating experience.

Our verdict... candy apples are beautiful from a far.