a peek inside the fishbowl

I am writing this at 3:30 a.m. Piper woke me up. I tried going back to sleep but I found myself with the chorus of “What the Fox Say” so deeply fixed in my brain that I had to get up and do something before I suffocated myself with my own pillow. (“Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!“) And that’s how I ended up sitting here on the couch looking up caramel apple recipes.

I love caramel apples, I always have. There’s something about the combination of sweet juicy apple and thick creamy caramel that really appeals to me. But here’s the thing. I tried making them a couple of times and they never worked out. For some reason the caramel always slid right off, forming a rather sloppy pool underneath the apples and resulting in widespread disappointment and possibly unicorn deaths everywhere.

Do you make caramel apples? If so, what’s your secret? Do you do what untold millions have done, and create culinary magic with simple ingredients (apples, milk, Kraft caramels), or are you the kind of person who goes the extra mile and actually makes your own caramel?

In my early-morning research I have been able to uncover a few tips that might be helpful as I consider this future endeavour:

• To cut down on “caramel slide,” roll waxy apples in boiling water, wipe them off, and pop them in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to cool before dipping in caramel.
• Apparently if you turn the apple over the dish after dipping it in caramel, it will roll back on itself and harden as it cools. Maybe I was hurrying this part of the process along a bit too much?

These are the recipes I’m bookmarking for myself: this 3-ingredient caramel apple recipe, this recipe that makes the caramel from scratch, and this one from the Pioneer Woman. (Guess which side she’s on?) Got one to share? I’m all ears. Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow!