Thread: Candy Apples

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Hey all. I'm thinking of making up a few candy apples to give out to neighbourhood kids this Halloween. Anyone know a good recipe they have tried in the past? I'm hoping they're not too difficult to make. I'm thinking with the heating of the sugar and such I may need a candy thermometer but I hope not. That is far too complicated!! lol


Also, what are the best apples to make candy apples with? I'd think a tart apple would be best, to offset the sweetness of the coating.

This is the recipe I use, from All Recipes.. it has never failed me. I do use a candy thermometer (sorry) but you can always use the "drop in water to hard ball" method.. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Candied...II/Detail.aspx

I then found this site : http://mattbites.com/2011/10/05/adams-scary-apples/ and now I use cut twigs for handles (looks fantastic and it's easy) and use
black food coloring for some of them. I use the red first and then add black to it (you get a deeper black that way) . I find using Macs just fine for the red or black apples. I like using green apples for caramel.

Here's what I've learned about this from about 10 years of making hard candy at Christmas.

I like green apples for the hard candy apples but you can do whatever apple you want, just make sure it's a "crisp" apple not not a pithy one.

Here's my Hard Candy Recipe. You can double if you need to but if the batch is too big it'll all harden too quickly. I make hard candy every year at Christmas & one year I bought a candy apple mix & that's all it was, my hard candy recipe.

1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of corn syrup
1/4 cup of water

Boil to hard crack, 300° but don't stir. Invest in a thermometer, they're cheap & worth it. If you get the temp too high the sugar burns, too low it's taffy & hard to work with. Take it off the burner, add in your flavouring if you want or need any & food coloring if needed & stir.

I get all my candy flavourings here, Lorann Oils. Sometimes Walmart has the same flavourings too. For the size batch I posted, one small 1 dram bottle works in one batch. If you choose to add in cinnamon remember that makes it hotter to the touch & smell too. I think I used cherry when I did it. They also sell colorings that work great, but if you use an oil like cherry it already has a little bit of color so you may not need coloring.

Once it's ready, dip the apple in it or spoon it over the apple, let it sit on a cookie sheet to harden & you're done. You may wanna spray that cookie sheet with some Pam or the equivalent so it comes off the pan easier.

Don't use a non-stick pan & if you have a silicone spatula those work better than a regular one. I've had the sugar melt spatulas that weren't the right kind.

Expect a mess, expect to have to try it more than once to get the results you want, don't let the kids help, this is 300° molten sugar & trust me, it burns like the fires of hell.

You have to work fairly quickly too so have everything ready before you get started. Get the cookie sheet out, have all the ingredients measured & ready, have the sticks in the apples, have your spoon or whatever, because the mixture cools quickly & that makes it harder.

I'd also suggest a fan if you use flavourings, especially cinnamon, because it gets hot & if you breathe in that steam it's almost suffocating.

All that sounds more complicated than it really is, just be careful. I'm sorta used to handling hot sugar now so I pick up the semi-hardened pieces to cut my candy into pieces, but thankfully you won't have to touch the sugar.

I should also add don't use the flavourings you buy at the grocery store, they're not strong enough & there's another reason I can't recall at the moment. You can use grocery store colors but not flavours.

You also don't need a giant pot for this, a smaller sauce pan/pot will do.

I also can't stress enough DO NOT STIR THE MIXTURE until the end when you're adding in flavours &/or color & then only stir enough to mix it up. The first batch will take a little longer to heat than the second or third because the pot is cool & those 2nd, 3rd, etc. batches will heat up more quickly.

yup, I agree with RCIAG and all of his wisdom. A couple more pointers; if your candy is getting thick, you can reheat it. Also, I don't worry about oiled\ sprayed cookie sheet.. what I do is put a very thick layer of white sugar on the cookie sheet. I set the apples directly on the sugar and it is easily removed and has a
nice sugary bottom to them.

Not quite candy apples but these look fantastic and have been on my list to try since last year:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/sweet-a...es/detail.aspx

Sea salt on caramel and chocolate... sounds heavenly.

Frankie's Girl... you know, I've made caramel apples every year. Every year, they caramel has slid off the apples! I have used organic apples, washed wax off,
made them very cold first, used home made, used the caramels, added milk, yada yada! I have given up. I am considered the Halloween queen around here, but little do they know I suck at caramel apples I have done soooo much research into these little gems and just cannot do it. So, now , I make a wonderful caramel apple dip and slice green apples.. not the same but good. If you can make them, and not have puddles with naked apples, PLEASE let me know your secret!

Originally Posted by Frankie's Girl

Not quite candy apples but these look fantastic and have been on my list to try since last year:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/sweet-a...es/detail.aspx

Sea salt on caramel and chocolate... sounds heavenly.

and for those of us who don't cook, we can go to Starbucks and get a Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate!