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Caramel apples or toffee apples are whole apples covered in a layer of
For high-volume production of caramel apples, a sheet of
Hunter's Candy in Moscow, Idaho began selling caramel apples in 1936. Hard-coated candy apples had been around since the late 19th century, but Hunter's Candy created a new treat by coating the apples with their caramel. During World War II, these apples were shipped overseas to soldiers in Korea, Japan, and England.
In 1948, the Kastrup family founded The Affy Tapple Company in Chicago. The recipe for their caramel apples came from Edna Kastrup and is still used today for their "The Original Caramel Apple" line
In 1960, Vito Raimondi patented the first automatic caramel apple making machine, replacing much of the process that involved production by hand.
caramel
Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...
. They are created by dipping or rolling apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
s-on-a-stick in hot caramel, sometimes then rolling them in nuts or other small savories or confections, and allowing them to cool. When these additional ingredients, such as nut toppings, are added, the caramel apple can be called a taffy apple.
Production
For high-volume production of caramel apples, a sheet of caramel
Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...
can be wrapped around the apple, followed by heating the apple to melt the caramel evenly onto it. This creates a harder caramel that is easier to transport but more difficult to eat. Caramel apple production at home usually involves melting pre-purchased caramel candies for dipping or making a homemade caramel from ingredients like corn syrup
Corn syrup is a food syrup that is made from the starch of corn/maize and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften Mouthfeel, texture, add vol ...
, brown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...
, butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...
, and vanilla
Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia'').
''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...
. Homemade caramel generally results in a softer, creamier coating.
In recent years, it has become increasingly popular to decorate caramel apples for holidays like Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
. Methods used to do this include applying sugar or salt to softened caramel, dipping cooled, hardened apples in white or milk chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods.
Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...
, or painting designs onto finished caramel apples with white chocolate
White chocolate is a chocolate made from cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids. It is Ivory (color), ivory in color and lacks the dark appearance of most other types of chocolate as it does not contain the non-fat components of cocoa (cocoa sol ...
colored with food coloring
Food coloring, color additive or colorant is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or beverages. Colorants can be supplied as liquids, powders, gels, or pastes. Food coloring is commonly used in commercia ...
.
Classically, the preferred apples for use in caramel apples are tart-tasting apples with a crisp texture such as Granny Smith
The Granny Smith is an List of apple cultivars, apple cultivar that originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who Fruit tree propagation, propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a Hybri ...
.
History
Hunter's Candy in Moscow, Idaho began selling caramel apples in 1936. Hard-coated candy apples had been around since the late 19th century, but Hunter's Candy created a new treat by coating the apples with their caramel. During World War II, these apples were shipped overseas to soldiers in Korea, Japan, and England.
In 1948, the Kastrup family founded The Affy Tapple Company in Chicago. The recipe for their caramel apples came from Edna Kastrup and is still used today for their "The Original Caramel Apple" line
In 1960, Vito Raimondi patented the first automatic caramel apple making machine, replacing much of the process that involved production by hand.
See also
* Candy apple (also known as a "toffee apple" outside North America) * Caramel Apple Pops * List of apple dishesReferences
External links
* {{Apples Fruit confectionery Halloween food Apple desserts Skewered foods