I have never attempted making Caramel apples before and decided to give it a whirl while we painted pumpkins. I bought this kit at United, it was among the caramel candies and such placed strategically beside the apples. I figured it'd do the job of covering 5 apples. Plus, I didn't want to spend the time unwrapping all of the individually wrapped pieces of caramel.
It ended up being a tad time consuming....messy...and tricky. The instructions said to test the temp with a candy thermometer, and to let the candy reach the "soft ball" stage. Well, I'm no baker, I don't make candy for a living, and do not own a candy thermometer, nor know what "soft ball" stage means. Basically, we just stirred the concoction and watched it boil for awhile.
Kanyon paraded around the house with his jack-o-lantern bucket and Kendall's keys in his pocket while Kameran helped me in the kitchen. (our pumpkins were drying)
I had a couple of sprinkle options...from Christmas, but we made the green stand for Frankenstein.
We used shish-ka-bob skewers for our sticks.
The caramel concoction was making us a little worried when it started getting huge rock solid chunks in it, that I couldn't even smash with the spoon...I mean come on, caramel is supposed to be soft and sticky, not like pop rocks! So, we decided to let it cook a lot longer (the unfriendly caramel mix box did not have any directions as to how long it would take to complete the chore of reaching the "soft ball" stage. 5 minutes? 30? an hour? )
I believe that it ended up cooking on the stove for about 20 minutes or more. I was bored and wishing I had opted for the tedious task of unwrapping the caramel candies and melting them in the microwave instead...next time that will be the plan.
We called the texture complete...and then had to let it chill for 10 minutes. Finally, we got to try our hand at dipping our apples....
My Little Monster & Me
(baby Karter bump @ 35 & 1/2 weeks)
Kanyon's Franken-Apple
Kameran adding sprinkles to hers.
Kendall's colorful one.
And then we had to just sit and stare at the yummy-looking goodies as the caramel firmed up.
Talk about torture...with all that time spent making them, we were starved!
I told Kanyon to "Lick It!"
And yes, he was a fan. He licked every bit of caramel off and then I cut up the apple into chunks so that he could chow down.
He wasn't a fan of the mess on his hands though.
Contemplating sharing his sweet treat with Daddy.
Yum. Yum. First time for caramel apples = success! Another Fall tradition. (except using different method of caramel next time.)
oct. 14th, 2011
