how not to make candy apples
Hey, so, it was, like, 7:30 pm and we, you know, we have 43 pounds of apples and so, we thought, I THOUGHT (OKAY?) that I would make a tasty treat.
How long could candy apples take, I thought amusedly, or bemusedly, or drunkenly.
Sugar, check, corn syrup, check, check, check,
A corn syrup transfer in progress.
We even had popsicle sticks - and you know that would have been a deal breaker, no sticks...
And so, with the recipe before us, and NOTHING BUT TIME - we begin.
la deee deeee...what a good mom I am!
Making candy apples at this hour!
With a double boiler no less...
...boil the syrup to 290 -
okee dokee.
let's see...
wow.
215 took a while. but if they say double boiler, it had better be double boiler - I've had sugar disasters in my day...
oh, yes, sugar disaster can even cause injuries. we don't want to go there.
I could clean up the dinner things.
...think I'll take off my shoes.
and my bra. shut up.
did Youngest just go to bed?
COOKING WITH GAS NOW, BAYBEEEE. heh heh. gas. cause my stove is, you know...
257 huh. what are we shooting for?
Looks pretty light. shouldn't it get darker?
K reports that he is boarding the train.
My brother reports real estate success...
soft crack.
SOFT CRACK...oh, so MANY juvenile jokes to be made. hard crack, firm ball...
good GOD. WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?
289! 289!
TEAM APPLE ALERT.
dipping apples into boiling molten sugar over the stove! and onto wax paper!
so
beautiful.
so
deadly.
ONE'S TEETH BECOME GLUED SHUT.
OR GLUED TO THE APPLE.
THEY ARE APPLES FROM HELL.
And, guess what?
The wax paper -
WAS A BAD IDEA.
unless you want a little WAXED PAPER with your apple.
THIS is never coming off.
AND, BEST OF ALL...
we boiled off the water in the double boiler about ten minutes into the process thereby boiling the hell out of the pot and killing it.
note that the bottom of the pot and the POT ITSELF are two different things.
on to the next!
How long could candy apples take, I thought amusedly, or bemusedly, or drunkenly.
Sugar, check, corn syrup, check, check, check,
A corn syrup transfer in progress.
We even had popsicle sticks - and you know that would have been a deal breaker, no sticks...
And so, with the recipe before us, and NOTHING BUT TIME - we begin.
la deee deeee...what a good mom I am!
Making candy apples at this hour!
With a double boiler no less...
...boil the syrup to 290 -
okee dokee.
let's see...
wow.
215 took a while. but if they say double boiler, it had better be double boiler - I've had sugar disasters in my day...
oh, yes, sugar disaster can even cause injuries. we don't want to go there.
I could clean up the dinner things.
...think I'll take off my shoes.
and my bra. shut up.
did Youngest just go to bed?
COOKING WITH GAS NOW, BAYBEEEE. heh heh. gas. cause my stove is, you know...
257 huh. what are we shooting for?
Looks pretty light. shouldn't it get darker?
K reports that he is boarding the train.
My brother reports real estate success...
soft crack.
SOFT CRACK...oh, so MANY juvenile jokes to be made. hard crack, firm ball...
good GOD. WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?
289! 289!
TEAM APPLE ALERT.
dipping apples into boiling molten sugar over the stove! and onto wax paper!
so
beautiful.
so
deadly.
ONE'S TEETH BECOME GLUED SHUT.
OR GLUED TO THE APPLE.
THEY ARE APPLES FROM HELL.
And, guess what?
The wax paper -
WAS A BAD IDEA.
unless you want a little WAXED PAPER with your apple.
THIS is never coming off.
AND, BEST OF ALL...
we boiled off the water in the double boiler about ten minutes into the process thereby boiling the hell out of the pot and killing it.
note that the bottom of the pot and the POT ITSELF are two different things.
on to the next!
Comments
i probably would've just thrown the pan away.
And if you've never tried parchment paper before you should get a roll. I use it for cookies and just about everything else. Reynolds makes it and I usually get it at my local grocery. Nothing sticks to parchment, NOTHING.
Oh, and dude? For candied apples and anything else sticky? SILPAT. Accept no substitutes. I'm frankly horrified at the thought that you might not have one. IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
For real.
I like the McGiver-ness of the forks.
perhaps Carmel apples would be safer.
These weren't meant to be carmel were they?
Those candy apples look a bit scary. I do belive after watching your how-to that I have never had one before. But I love the air bubbles created in the slick coating. Very cool.
:) Thanks for the warning of what a disaster this could be!
I was desperate for a caramel apple this weekend, and was so sad because we couldn't find any!
(we call them toffee apples - I was wondering if we were talking about the same thing and now I see we were)
we didn't have sticks and instead we used wooden chopsticks (the kind you always save the extras from when you get sushi cause you know you'll need them someday...). we just cut them in half and they worked great...
Word verification: ylith. Which is how one might say "help" with a mouth glued together with candy apple & wax paper.
CLEAR candy apples?
Well no wonder they were weird!
Use aluminum foil that you've buttered next time....if you guys ever get your mouths apart again, that is....
Poor pot.
Me? I would have made apple butter and cider.
-J.
Second: Silpat, just do it. Spend the money on the French ones that have finished edges.
Third: Just boi water in the pan with the sugar, it will take everything off and clean the pan.
Forth: Sorry about the bottom of the pan....sad that.
second - I HAVE A DAMN SILPAT, I was just being very creative. It is French and has finished edges and I would never cut it (as Joke was worried I would).
third - the sugar released itself from the pan after a boil, but the burnt splats of sugar near the top edge of the pan (and this is just the double boiler insert) will take years to brillo off.
fourth - I hated the pan. IT WAS REVERE WARE. ack.
Here I was hoping you figured out a way to add water to the pot w/o steam burns! Now that is what we need to know.
Thanks for the Silpat tips, everybody. I made a note on my candy blog (wiscandy.blogspot.com). How does Silpat work with chocolate, does anyone know?
So his culinary failure Mom is embarking on this candy apple making task for a bake sale that is 9 hours away!
Who would ever think it would be so hard to melt together corn syrup, cinnamon hearts, sugar, and whatever else..roll apples in it - would be sooo horrendous.
I haven't even started yet and I'm going crazy!!!
I had the same exact problem with the stuff sticking to my teeth!! Yes! Mouth glued shut! And the best part was...hubby had to try it for himself! Even as he stood there watching my reaction! I was shaking my head no-no-no! *lol*
My best effort so far has been to bring the candy mixture to hard crack stage (yes, it really does get there eventually, and it does do what the books describe with the threads breaking instead of bending), but I don't use water, I just boil the stuff. It makes wonderful suckers, just not great candy apple coating because it's too hard. I'm going to try soft or hard ball stage next. I'm determined this is going to work without cutting my gums, breaking my teeth, or gluing my mouth shut! LOL!!!