From Denny: One of the pleasures of childhood during the spooky silly Halloween season was when one of our neighbors, the local baker, used to make awesome candied apples. They were beautiful and his wife gave them out every year at the door as she congratulated the kids on the creativity of their costumes.
Fast forward into adulthood and now chefs have taken off with their own versions of the candied apple, offering all kinds of variations like the caramel apple, the caramel apple with nuts and the chocolate coated apple.
Of course, the food companies got on the trend wagon and now have sent the price of those same childhood delights soaring into the stratosphere price wise. The Culinary Institute of America is here to show us how easy - and far less expensive - it is to make our own caramel apples! To get the freshest apples that are not coated with wax like the grocery store versions, take a trip to your local farmers' market to pick up your area's apple stars of taste.
Caramel Apples
From: Chocolates and Confections at Home with The Culinary Institute of America
Makes: 12 to 18 apples
Skill level: 1
Ingredients:
12–18 Apples
12–18 sticks
4 oz (½ cup) Water
1 lb (2 cups) Sugar
1 can (14 oz) Sweetened condensed milk
12 oz (1 cup) Light corn syrup
6 oz (12 tbsp, 1½ sticks) Butter, unsalted, soft
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Vanilla extract
Directions:
Clean and dry the apples. Insert a stick into the stem end of each apple. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Combine the water, sugar, condensed milk, corn syrup, and butter in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant rubber spatula.
Continue stirring while cooking until the batch reaches 245°F. This is a good estimation of the required temperature. When the thermometer reads 240°F, begin testing the caramels using the spoon technique outlined on page 30 (below). The cooled piece on the spoon should be firm but not hard when the caramel is properly cooked.
Stir in the salt and vanilla extract.
Pour the caramel into a 2-quart saucepan or other narrow, deep, heatproof container.
Dip the prepared apples in the hot caramel. Allow the excess caramel to drain off and place on the prepared pan. Allow to cool fully, about 20 minutes. Any excess caramel can be poured onto parchment paper or into a buttered pan, allowed to cool, and cut and wrapped.
Caramel Apples with Nuts: Before the caramel has cooled completely, roll the dipped apple in chopped toasted walnuts or pecans.
Chocolate-Coated Caramel Apples: After the caramel has cooled entirely to room temperature, melt and temper 2 lb/5¹⁄³ cups milk chocolate, chopped into ½-inch pieces, and dip the apples. Roll in chopped toasted nuts before the chocolate sets fully, if desired.
Keys to Success from the Culinary Institute of America:
• If using supermarket apples, wash off the wax for the caramel to adhere.
• Caramels tend to foam during cooking. Use a larger than normal saucepan to prevent boiling over.
• A few degrees can make a big difference in the finished product: Undercooked caramel will be too soft, and overcooked caramel will be too hard to bite.
• If the caramel gets too thick during dipping, rewarm it by stirring it over low heat or in the microwave.
Spoon Technique for Testing Sugar:
Place a small bowl of ice water next to the saucepan of cooking sugar.
As the sugar boils, spoon small samples of the syrup out of the saucepan and immerse the spoon holding the syrup in the ice water.
Allow the syrup to cool for several seconds, then remove the spoon from the water.
Take the cooled sample of syrup between your thumb and forefinger and squeeze it to evaluate the consistency.
*** Here's the Culinary Institute of America's newest cookbook they are promoting:
Chocolates and Confections at Home with The Culinary Institute of America
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