Honey Caramel Apples

Before I moved to Alaska I worked for a few months at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at the Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. It was my favorite job that I've had. We made all kinds of amazing candy but by far the best thing we did was caramel apples. Plain ones, but also ones with all kinds of goodies stuck to the outside: chocolate, M&Ms, crushed Oreos, tiger butter (white chocolate mixed with peanut butter and swirled with milk chocolate), cheesecake apples, apple pie apples (dipped in white chocolate then rolled in cinnamon sugar), and many more. Even granola apples! Those caramel apples were completely amazing and the caramel was the best I ever had. While I never got to make the caramel myself, several times a week I watched my coworker stand over a giant copper vat, stirring the big pot of cream, butter and sugar for about an hour until it was done. I never got to dip the apples either but I did put sticks in hundreds of them! A job that hurt your hands for sure but ya got to take home any bruised apples so not too bad at all :D If only every job I worked at could have been that much fun. Most of our customers were people on vacation and they were in a giant chocolate shop so they tended to be in great moods. I only dealt with 2 grumps the entire time I worked there. When they hired me I'd hoped I'd get to actually make the caramel apples and fudge, but it turned out that I was great at being incessantly cheerful and was one of the best sellers so that's what I did. I haven't worked there for 6 years now but I always buy a caramel apple when I visit my family and I also always make caramel apples at Halloween.

Which brings us to this recipe! Usually I just use packaged caramels because I like them, but I saw this recipe on Our Best Bites and had to try it. Honey? Caramel? AND apples? Sign me up, I love all of those things! The recipe was very easy to follow and turned out great. Not to mention fun! I made a couple changes like doubling it (good call) and cooking it to 265 instead of 260 so it would get a little thicker. This resulted in easy to work with caramel that got a tad chewier than usual, you can cook to whichever of the two temperatures you think you'd prefer.

Quick Note: Use decent quality honey. I didn't want to use my $16 a pound raw Alaskan honey because it's so expensive and wonderful on its own, but you should use a honey that tastes good to you. The good Alaskan honey has spoiled me because cheap grocery store honey tastes almost bad in comparison now. I did use some of the cheapo honey (as in the cheapest the store had) in the caramel and it definitely came through in the flavor. Next time I make this recipe I'll use a middle quality honey. Also, make sure to use a big enough pot! The caramel simmers up as it cooks and it could easily overflow in a too small pan. And last of all, I used a digital probe thermometer instead of a candy thermometer. It's one of my favorite kitchen items!

Here are my tasty apples (the light spots are just bubbles):


Honey Caramel Apples

6 apples (mine weighed 3.5 lbs in all)

bamboo skewers, popsicle sticks or disposable wooden chopsticks

2 C heavy cream

2 C decent quality honey

1/4 t salt

1/2 t vanilla extract

To prepare apples, peel off the stickers, rinse well, dry thoroughly, then put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours so they're cold. Combine cream, honey and salt in a large pot over medium-high heat. While stirring occasionally, bring mixture to a rolling boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally (more frequently near the end when it thickens) until the temperature reaches 160-165 degrees with a candy thermometer or digital probe thermometer. Remove the pot from the heat and let cook for a minute or two, then stir in the vanilla extract.

Allow caramel to cool until it thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. While caramel cools, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and insert your stick of choice into the tops of the apples. Then the caramel is ready to dip, pour into a 4 cup measuring cup. One at a time, dip the apples into the caramel, using a spoon to get caramel around the top. Twirl to remove excess caramel and scrape off the bottom of the apple with the spoon before placing on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining apples. You can warm it on the stove again if it thickens too much. Once all the apples have been dipped, place them in the refrigerator so the caramel can set. Serve after an hour or so. The caramel apples will keep well at room temperature for 2-3 days or you can refrigerate them. Just bring them to room temperature before you eat them or you won't have any teeth left for next year's caramel apples!

Below is a picture of how I learned to cut the caramel apples at the candy store, it's just 4 cuts: