Caramel apples go with fall like hot chocolate goes with Christmas, it’s just a must have seasonal treat. So I tried my hand at making some and I dressed them up with tags I designed as part of my 2017 Halloween Printable Collection available on my Etsy Shop. The results look super cute, but honestly, it was looking a little iffy at first. Quite frankly, the caramel apples weren’t as easy as I thought they would be so this post is all about Caramel Apple Tips I discovered that really do work. Plus, presentation is everything. You can hide so many flaws if you just display it cute. So thank goodness I’m better at graphic design than I am at baking.
Caramel Apple How-To with Must-Try Tips
You can find millions of recipes for caramel apples, but I’ve compiled must-try tips for each step that really do work in creating a better (dare I say, more perfect) caramel apple. I hope they help you in your quest for making a great caramel apple.
Ingredients
- 1 Bag Caramels
- 2 Tablespoons Milk
- 6 Small-Medium Apples
- 6 Lollipop Sticks
- Parchment Paper
Materials for Presentation (all optional)
- 6 Black/White Paper Straws
- Halloween Printable Collection for Tags
- Black/white Baker’s Twine
- 6 Black/White Cupcake Liners
Making Caramel Apples
Prepare apples. Wash and dry apples. Insert Lollipop Sticks into apples. If using paper straws, you can cover your lollipop stick with your paper straw (trim to length you want your stick).
- Tip 1: Make sure your apples are very dry before dipping.
- Tip 2: To help caramel stick to apples, try lightly sanding apples. Wipe clean after any sanding.
- Tip 3: Place apples in freezer for at least 15 minutes before dipping them in caramel, again this helps with the dipping/setting process.
Prepare caramel. Melt caramels and milk in small saucepan or in the microwave.
- Tip 4: if doing in microwave, use a glass 4-cup measuring cup, this cup size is perfect for dipping. If melting in sauce pan, pour your melted caramel into the glass measuring cup.
Dip apples. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dip your apples in the caramel. Before putting dipped apples on the parchment paper, let excess drip off. (You’ll see, some of my apples had some pooling of the caramel, while others didn’t. Having the apples cold (Tip 3), helped prevent some of the pooling.)
- Tip 5: Place in fridge for 15 minutes to set. Apples will peel right off the parchment paper.
Add finishing touches. For a fun presentation, place each apple on a cupcake liner. Add a holiday tag, like my Halloween Tags, using bakers twine. Note: do this right before serving as apples will stick to the paper if the caramel gets too warm. (Contact me if you have a tip to prevent this from happening. I’ll then add it to the post!)
Even if your apples aren’t perfect (note the apple in the far left of this photo), the cupcake liners and tags hide the flaws!
Do you like the “tablecloth”? It was the Halloween Photo Backdrop I designed last year. I pulled elements from it to make the tags. So everything goes together to make a fun display. The photo backdrop is available as a free print-it-yourself file, so be sure to check it out too.
The tags come in two sizes. The small tags used for the caramel apples are 2″ x 2.5″ and the larger tags used in the banner are 3.5″ x 4.25″. The set is only $5 and available for instant download on my Etsy Shop.
Links for the Print-It-Yourself Files Used In This Post
