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Making Candied Apples
by Martha Matthews
As autumn starts to come around, the crisp, clean air and the leaves
that turn to bright colors of yellow, orange and red bring thoughts of
harvest time, cozy evenings by the fire, and one of my family's favorite
activities, making candy apples.
If
you would like to try your hand at making candied apples you'll find
that it's not as hard to do as you might think. Who knows, you may
want to make it into a family tradition!
Here are a
couple of recipes that are sure to be a big hit.
Red Hot Candied Apples
6 Red Delicious apples, washed and dried
6 wooden ice-cream sticks
1 cup water
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup red-hot candies
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
Grease a large cookie sheet and set it aside. Have your children (if
they are old enough) remove the stems from the apples and insert a
wooden stick part way through stem end of apples. Set aside on a plate.
In 2 quart heavy saucepan, combine remaining ingredients. Heat the
mixture over a medium heat to boiling without stirring.
Wipe sides of pan with damp cloth occasionally to remove any sugar
crystals that form on the sides of the pan.
Boil the mixture, without stirring, until candy thermometer reaches
290F, or when a little of mixture dropped into cold water separates into
thin, hard threads, about 20 minutes.
Remove the syrup from the heat. Dip the bottom of the pot briefly in
cold water to stop the cooking process. Tip the pan and swirl each apple
in the mixture to coat.
Place the apples on the cookie sheet to cool. Work quickly before the
syrup hardens. Cool for one hour before serving.
Classic Candied Apples
8 apples (Granny Smiths or something a little tart)
8 wooden skewers or sticks
2 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
Red coloring
Grease a baking pan and set it aside. Wash and dry the apples
thoroughly. Remove the stems. Insert a wooden skewer into the stem end
of each apple.
Place sugar, syrup, and water in a small, heavy, deep saucepan so that
the syrup will be deep enough to dip the apples into. On a medium heat,
stir the sugar until it is dissolved. When the mixture starts boiling,
stir in the food coloring. Do NOT stir the mixture from this point on.
Wipe the sides of the pan with a damp cloth to remove any sugar crystals
that form. Boil without stirring until syrup is brittle when a small
amount is dropped into cold water, or 300 degrees F on a candy
thermometer.
Dip the apples into syrup. Be very careful around small children with
the hot syrup. Remove at once, twisting each apple to spread the syrup
evenly. Stand apples on a greased baking sheet. Let stand until the
syrup hardens.
FUN VARIATIONS
Nutty Candied Apples
Prepare candied apples. Roll end of apple in chopped nuts before placing
on baking sheet. Try almonds, walnuts or cashews.
Cereal Coated Candied Apples
Prepare candied apples. Roll end of apple in one of the following
crushed cereals: Captain Crunch, Fruit Loops or a granola-type cereal
before placing on baking sheet.
About the author
Martha Matthews is a wife, mother, home manager and the Executive
Director of Christian-Homemaking.com,
a web site with resources devoted to helping Christian Homemakers Manage
their home. She also has a popular free monthly newsletter for Christian
Homemakers called The Christian Homemaking Newsletter. To subscribe visit
www.christian-homemaking.com/newsletter.html
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