I have never made caramel apples before. And if you can believe it - I had never even tried one before! And obviously I have never photographed one before. That bottom photo isn't even in focus!! But it was one of my favorites anyway (so - no, you don't need glasses!) I don't know why I never had one. I guess because they seem messy and I would always see them when I was out - not when I wanted to get messy. And they seemed hard to make so I never made them before.
But I saw these cuties on the Patty Cakes Bakery Blog and had to make them for Rachel's birthday. I am so glad I did. They were not that hard, much to my amazement. A lot of steps but definitely doable!
First - I inserted wooden sticks into the apples. I didn't find any "apple sticks". So I used a just a regular stick. The Popsicle sticks seemed so wide - I liked these skinny ones better. I was surprised how great they stuck in the apples.
Then I boiled water and then quickly dipped my apples, one at a time, into the boiling water. Then I wiped the apple dry with a paper towel to remove the wax on the apple. This step is to make it easier for the caramel to stick to the apple.
I used store bought caramel in an effort to reduce my steps. It is a lot of unwrapping! I used two bags and followed the package directions for melting in a double boiler. Once it was completely melted and smooth I dipped my apples. I let the excess caramel drip off and then set the apple on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
While the caramel was still wet and sticky I inserted 2 toothpicks into the apple and added marshmallows to create Minnie's ears.
I let the apples chill in the fridge for an hour and then dipped them in my chocolate. I melted over two pounds of chocolate and I still didn't have enough to dip the apples. So I held the apple over my double boiler and spooned the chocolate over the apples.
After the chocolate set I melted some white candy melts in my Wilton melter. I dipped the bottom half of the apple in the white chocolate and immediately put on my white candy for Minnie's polka dots. I had to do it immediately or the candy would start to set. I used the white York Peppermint Pattie Bites. As soon as I had the polka dots on I poured pink sanding sugar over the apple and let it stick to the white candy for Minnie's skirt. Then I put them back on the parchment paper lined baking sheet and into the fridge until we were ready to serve them.
They were actually easy to eat because we cut them into slices. They were absolutely delicious. Just wish I had taken better pictures!
