Monday, October 5, 2009

Fleur de Sel Caramel Apples

One of my favorite fall treats is the caramel apple! Have you ever opened dozens of tiny wrapped caramels to melt to make your own caramel-dipped apples? What a pain in the apple core! Sunday, I made my own caramel for dipping apples from a recipe I found on Recipezaar. This recipe is wonderful!

The fun thing about making caramel apples is you can be as creative as time and ingredients allow!

Caramel apples lend themselves to so many wonderful toppings - chocolate sprinkles, melted chocolate, toasted nuts, mini marshmallows to name just a few. My new favorite addition is fleur de sel or sea salt. After seeing so many recipes for fleur de sel caramels, I thought I'd give it a try on my caramel-dipped apples. In one word - Excellent! I actually made a few fleur de sel caramels using the left-over caramel after the apples were dipped. The sweet and salty combination is wonderful.

For my caramel apples, I used toasted, chopped pecans, melted semi-sweet chocolate and the aforementioned fleur de sel.

Did you know that caramel apples were invented by Dan Walker, a sales representative for Kraft Foods, in the 1950s? What a clever man :)

Fleur de Sel Caramel Apples


Printable Recipe

Makes enough for 8-10 apples

1 cup butter (do not substitute margarine)
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8-10 wooden sticks
8-10 medium tart apples (I used Honey Crisp)
Fleur de Sel
Optional extras: Chopped, toasted nuts (I used toasted pecans) , melted chocolate or mini chocolate pieces, mini marshmallows anything else you'd like to apply to your caramel apples, placed in small bowls.

Candy Thermometer

Have everything you need prepped and handy before you begin as you don't want to scorch the caramel. Be very careful, hot caramel can give you a nasty burn.

Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and lightly butter the parchment.

Wash apples thoroughly to remove as much wax as possible. Insert a wooden stick into each apple.

In a heavy saucepan with candy thermometer, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and milk; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring slowly and constantly until the candy thermometer reads 248 degrees (firm ball stage) - about 30 minutes. Do not let the caramel cook any longer or it will get too hard.

Remove pan from heat and stir in the vanilla extract

Dip each apple into hot caramel mixture, tipping and turning to coat.

Sprinkle with a pinch of fleur de sel.

Dip the apples into the other toppings you've chosen while the caramel is still warm. Melted chocolate can be drizzled over after all the other toppings have been applied.

Place on the buttered parchment to cool.

Adapted from the recipe here.

39 comments:

  1. Such mouthwatering treats, and a very pretty mosaic.
    Happy MM
    Maggie

    ReplyDelete
  2. My kids would think I was the greatest mom ever if I made these caramel apples. If these don't say fall and halloween I don't know what does.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Omigosh, I am SERIOUSLY DROOLING here! lol What pretty treats, and wonderful images. Thanks so much for sharing at Mosaic Monday. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. These look yummy -- I love salt and caramel! And it is apple season. Beautiful pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful recipes and mouth-watering photos! I do love fleur de sel with sweet desserts.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Magazine shots Susan..You know I must make 2 for my oldest munchkins:) So adorable.. what a treat:) Love them..

    Thanks and Merçi!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mmmmmmm...those candy apples look so yummy! Thank you for sharing your recipe. They will make lovely take aways for a holiday celebration!


    Happy mosaic Monday!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Susan! Now these sound wonderful! I love salty and sweet together...and fleur de sel...what a nice frenchy touch! Happy week!...Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great mosaic! I could just eat it up! And thanks for sharing the recipe, unwrapping those caramels is not too much fun.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AWESOME!!!! I love Caramel apples! One of these days you'll be making those with the apple of your eye! I once had to make them for an entire class, 23, Adam volunteered me :) Lucky Mack, he'll be getting such amazing treats!

    Now you got me craving, it's even worth opening those wrappers!

    By the way King Arthur sells a huge chunk, no wrappers!
    Caramel Block from King Arthur

    ReplyDelete
  11. What an amazing treat (not to mention a beautiful gift)!

    ReplyDelete
  12. They look excellent, and I love them.
    I only have Kraft caramels though...:)
    Did you eat one??

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh my goodness! I want one of those very badly! Where do you get your backgrounds, if you don't mind my asking? I'm always struck by your backgrounds of your blog.
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete
  14. Aren't these the sweetest looking caramel apples you've ever seen?! Fortunately, I have all the necessary ingredients on hand---looks like I'll be giving them a try!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Susan, these are works of art! I love caramel apples and hate the work of peeling all those little squares. This definitely going on my "must try" list.

    ReplyDelete
  16. O.M.G., those look awesome, Susan! Honey Crisps are my favorite eat out of hand apples.

    Thanks for visiting my blog.:)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh so pretty Susan! Love the new header :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Now that is what I call eye candy for sure! Thanks for including the recipe along with your photos.
    Joyce

    ReplyDelete
  19. Susan, your caramel apples look and sound delicious. ... How cute with the pretty ribbon ... They say "autumn" to me. ... Isn't it wonderful what a little fleur de sel does to sweet things? ... Your mosaics are fabulous ...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yes, I did eat one, Kathleen. I do love caramel apples :)

    Carol, I didn't know it came in big blocks (but that's still cheating - LOL). This recipe is so good and simple to make.

    Brenda, you can find lots of free backgrounds on the internet by doing a search - it's amazing what's out there, it just takes a little time.

    Thanks again for the all of your sweet comments!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Your caramel apples looks absolutely divine! What a great treat to enjoy on an autumn day.

    ReplyDelete
  22. These sure are beautiful! I made some similar a couple yrs back, I'll have to do them again this year I think!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Those apples are to die for, the only thing better or as good is the wonderful pictures you took, not to mention the mosiacs, I wish i could do that, haven't figured out that yet, but I'ed love to. Your blog is just amazing to look through and of course I will have to be a follower...thanks for sharing ..come for a visit

    ReplyDelete
  24. My mouth was watering by the time I got to the end of the recipe. I love the mosaic as well, beautiful pictures. I'm going to print this recipe for sure. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow! What a great blog! I just signed up to follow.

    ReplyDelete
  26. WOW!!! They look so good...I can just feel my teeth loosen! lol Still, I think I will try the recipe since I have been given so many apples..can't let them go to waste!
    Photos and mosaics are gorgoeus!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I found your blog through Monique's. I'm so glad I did! These look amazing. We have a lot of crisp, tart apples. What better fate for them than to be caramelized? Thanks for the recipe and for reminding us how easy it is to make craamels.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Popped in to say hello! Those apples are gorgeous!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yum...what a fantastic treat...and the mosaic is so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks again for all of your thoughtful comments (she says as she nibbles on a piece of caramel apple) :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. What a delicious treat! They look absolutely wonderful...great photographs! The combination of flavors looks mouthwatering!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Definitely want to try this!! I love caramel apples and having access to fresh apples makes its even better. Your presentation is so pretty..just perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  33. OMG! I'm drooling! Just found your blog...love it!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Just found this recipe hanging out at your blog and now I can't stop thinking about them!

    ReplyDelete
  35. I never had much luck with making these. Perhaps it's the wax. But oh my, this time of year has me craving one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use parchment paper which worked really well, Abbe. Time to make some more ;)

      Delete

I appreciate your comment!