I haven't had a good Candy Apple in years... my last attempt was at a carnival this spring. It looked beautiful, but when I bit into it, I was stuck. Not many things urk me more than a chewy Candy Apple (dentists must love them). If you don't bring the sugar syrup to the hard crack stage, that is what you will get. It takes quite a while for it to get there, it was over half an hour for me... so grab your candy thermometer and your apples and make a batch today!
Speaking of candy thermometers, I took this chance to break out the 60ish year old never-been-used Westinghouse Thermometer set that belonged to my husbands Great Grandmother. It works like a charm :)
My Candy Apples
Makes 8-12
3 cups white sugar
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 cup water
red food colouring (1/2 to 1 tsp... mine should have been redder this time)
Popsicle or Lollypop Sticks, 8-12
Apples, 8-12, depending on size
In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, corn syrup and water to a boil over medium heat, stirring occassionally. Allow to boil until it reaches 300 degrees (hard crack stage). Add in food colouring and stir. Quicky dip apples*, twisting the around as you go and place the dipped apple on a parchment-lined baking sheet to dry.
Once completely dry, store in an airtight container, wrapping in parchment or cellophane and a ribbon bow if you are going to gift them. If you have any candy left over, you can make fun things with them, I poured it over parchment and put a lollypop stick in it and it turned into a pretty gross-looking bloody lolly (shown in bottom right of collage).
*If your apples have a wax coating, dip them in boiling water for 5 seconds and dry completely, this should get most of the wax off, allowing the candy to stick better.
Enjoy!
I do love candy apples - but I love caramel ones even more. It's strange, because I don't even really LIKE caramel, but something about a good caramel apple...I have one about once every three years or so!
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