Food Network, I’m losing confidence in you. Sure, your food looks delicious. But your track record lately has been less than impressive.
But Amy and I thought we’d give you another chance this week. So when I got my latest copy of Food Network Magazine, I had Poppy choose three random numbers. Then I lined those three numbers up, and voila! A page number! And the recipe looked like a great one. Caramel apples! How could they be bad?
They weren’t bad, really, but I wouldn’t call them caramel apples. It may well have been user error. The caramel would not stay on the apples. At first I thought maybe I’d tried to coat the apples too soon. But even after waiting several hours, it just slid off the apples.
But the caramel was wildly delicious anyway. I mean, I’m sure that it would have been, had I taken a spoon and scraped it from the parchment paper under the apples. Which I definitely would not have done.
Ahem.
Here’s the recipe!
Perfect Caramel Apples
from Food Network Magazine
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
pinch of salt
6 apples
6 sticksMix 2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup light corn syrup and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring just until the sugar dissolves. Cook, swirling the pan (do not stir), until the mixture is light amber and a candy thermometer registers 320 degrees, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; slowly whisk in 1/2 cup heavy cream, then 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Return to low heat and whisk until smooth. Let cool until the caramel is thick enough to coat a spoon. Insert sticks into the stem ends of 6 apples and dip the apples into the caramel, letting the excess drip off. Roll in toppings, then let cool on a parchment-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Suggested toppings:
-crushed cheese crackers (gross!)
-salted peanuts and caramel popcorn (overkill!)
-diced crystallized ginger and toasted sesame seeds (no thank you!)
-chopped walnuts and dried cranberries (eh!)
-toasted shredded coconut and chopped macademia nuts (maybe!)
-crushed Oreo cookies and a drizzle of melted white chocolate (makes me wish the caramel had stuck!)
What’s with those topping suggestions? Weird. I kind of get the connection between apples and cheddar, but with caramel that sounds awful. Maybe if it were brie…
Do you think maybe the apples had a waxy coating on them? Like maybe if you used organic apples, it would work better? Hmm..
I washed the apples before I used them, but maybe they were still a little waxy.
Do you think that that caramel recipe would work for caramel corn? My dad has been making caramel corn and he’s been getting very frustrated because it always turns out syrupy.
@Taylor: I think it might! Make sure you let it get good and cool before adding the popcorn, though, or it’ll probably slide off.