Saturday, December 8, 2007

Nan's Famous Caramel Apples


One of my favorite memories from my time in Utah was going to my "cousinish-aunt's" (Nan Black) house to make the best and fanciest caramel apples ever! Below, I share her recipe for the caramel as well as the basics of dipping. But the greatest thing about these apples (besides eating them), is that they become a work of art and the artist can be as creative as he/she wants. In memory of caramel-making times at Nan's, I've started hosting annual caramel apple-making parties.

Caramel Recipe:
I usually double this recipe.
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

Gradually bring these ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring constantly. Boil until candy thermometer reaches temperature slightly above soft ball stage. This is something you may need to experiment with a bit. It varies with thermometer and with altitude. (Here in low altitude Iowa I found that ~242°F was perfect; in high-altitude Utah 230-232°F. If the caramel is too soft it will take a long time to get firm and it will run off the apples when you put them down; if it gets too firm it will be more difficult to eat. I recommend using your candy thermometer as well as the Cold Water Test. For more help with candy temperature:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar-stages.html

  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract


When caramel has reached the desired temperature, remove from heat and add vanilla while stirring.


For Apples:

I prefer large, round, tart apples. Wash and dry apples thoroughly. Put wooden sticks into them. Dip in warm caramel and allow to cool until caramel is firm.

You can then dip them in chocolate (white or dark--almond bark works just fine) and sprinkle with anything else you like (e.g. english toffee, coconut, crushed oreos, nuts, etc.).

Nan's classic ones are dipped in white molding chocolate and then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.


5 comments:

Amber said...

My mother & sister in law, husband, and I tried out Nan's famous caramel and had a blast! The caramel turned out perfect, but it took us several apples to figure out how to keep the chocolate and yummy toppings from oozing off. The freezer worked well for that. I took a few apples to work and even our former professional chef said they were excellent. Thanks Abe!

Erin said...

Yummy! They worked so well this time!

Abraham said...

You're right Amber, the hardest part is making them without having the chocolate and toppings ooze off. To make these look really "professional" it takes some patience. The freezer works great (or even putting them outside if it is winter time), but you need to make sure they are somewhat set even before you put them down in the freezer or else it will still ooze off. Try playing with the temperature of the chocolate. You want it melted, but just barely melted--the hotter the chocolate the longer it will take to cool and the more runny it will be (I know, that's a very profound statement!).

Abraham said...

One more thing...
The best thing about these caramel apples is that you can be creative. Some will look beautiful and some will look a bit deformed. It is fun to see the variety you get. However, they will all taste great!!!

Anonymous said...


Dünyanın en çok tercih edilen kaliteli pornolarını sizlerde 4k formatında izleyebilirsiniz. 5k porn.