Mini Candy Apples on a Stick
The bite-size version of the candy apple: apple balls scooped with a melon baller, each with a bit of red peel, skewered on a stick and dipped in caramel. They are one bite each and look great on a Halloween dessert table. Keep in mind that cut apple releases juice and that juice dissolves the caramel, so make them last and eat them within the hour: they don't work made ahead or wrapped.
Ingredients
- 3 large red apples
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 100 g sugar
- 175 ml water
- 15 g butter
- Optional: a few drops of red food coloring
- 12 short skewers or lollipop sticks
Method
- 1
Put a bowl of ice water in the freezer while you prepare everything else.
- 2
Using a melon baller, scoop 12 balls from the apples, making sure each one keeps a little peel. Push a stick into each ball through the peel side and sprinkle them with lemon juice so they don't brown.
- 3
Pat the balls dry very thoroughly with paper towels, one by one: caramel won't stick to damp apple.
- 4
Put the sugar, water and butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat over low heat until the sugar dissolves, swirling the pan instead of stirring. Raise the heat and make a caramel: let it boil for 12-15 minutes, until it reaches 150 °C and turns golden. Turn off the heat, add the coloring if using, and wait for the caramel to stop bubbling.
If you have never made caramel, here is the technique step by step.
- 5
Take the bowl of ice water out of the freezer. Working quickly, dip each ball in the caramel, turning it to coat well, and plunge it into the ice water for 30 seconds so the caramel hardens. If the caramel thickens before you finish, return it to low heat for a few seconds.
- 6
Serve the mini apples right away: within the hour the caramel stays crunchy, but after that it starts to soften from the fruit's juice.