Caramel Apples

aligross

So we decided to do caramel apples for our favors at our wedding... Now we are in the process of "trying" them out (we are making them homemade!)
We ordered a small container of caramel from where we will order the LARGE amount we need - but what we are stuck on is what do you put on the outside of them?!?!?! I know the most common thing is crushed peanuts... but we want to be "different" and have a couple options for people. Do you ladies have any ideas?

debbieupper

I could talk about caramel apples for hours! We did them as favors for our wedding three weeks ago. We also were going to do them ourselves, but after mapping out the costs and logistics of actually getting it all done, we compromised and did this:

Step 1: Purchased hand-dipped apples from Candyland in Minneapolis. Half of those were rolled in peanuts. They cost us $2.10 each.

Step 2: We had an apple day, wherein we had friends over and set up an assembly line to make those apple uber gourmet. We did two flavors:

-Baby Ruth: The caramel apples rolled in peanuts we drizzled (heavily drizzled) with milk chocolate

-Apple Pie: The caramel apples without peanuts we dipped in white chocolate (ghirardelli with the non-yellow Crisco works best) and rolled them in a brown sugar and cinnamon mix.

Step 3: Toss them in a gusseted cellophane bag, throw a tag on and tie it with a pretty ribbon. Voila!

The reason we didn't dip ourselves is because A)it's hella messy and finicky, B)With the cost of shipping all the caramel and supplies, it's about the same as going the route we went (I know it sounds crazy, but it's true), and C)the Daffy Apple caramel, or whatever you plan to use, isn't half as good as the buttery, thick, homemade stuff at Candyland. I was in denial about this until I tried it for myself.

I have a spreadsheet that maps out all of the options and prices that I would love to share with you if you think it would be helpful. PM me with your email address and I'll send it your way!

aligross

Hey Debbie,
Thanks for the info... When we figured it out supplies and all we are going to be able to do our apples for around $1.10 each ~ My family has an apple orchard that we'll get all the apples from and then my BF/MOH is in Colorado and is picking up the Daffy Caramel so there is no shipping costs. We've always done caramel apples for family get togethers so I am pretty used to the "mess".

About 50% of the time I'm all in and the other 50% I'm skeptical of doing it all.... We'll have to see!

graysquirrel

Sounds so good! If you're still looking for topping options, I've seen different candies on the ones at the grocery store-- mostly M&Ms.

debbieupper

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_caramel-apples?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:d04a853d-caef-4eb9-b97b-76a9436874f7Post:4b5a0f42-a86d-4bf8-ad2d-163bcabdb003">Re: Caramel Apples</a>:
[QUOTE]Hey Debbie, Thanks for the info... When we figured it out supplies and all we are going to be able to do our apples for around $1.10 each ~ My family has an apple orchard that we'll get all the apples from and then my BF/MOH is in Colorado and is picking up the Daffy Caramel so there is no shipping costs. We've always done caramel apples for family get togethers so I am pretty used to the "mess". About 50% of the time I'm all in and the other 50% I'm skeptical of doing it all.... We'll have to see!
Posted by aligross[/QUOTE]

<div>Ah, okay - that's great! It's the shipping and the apples that really jack the price of DIY, so if you've got that taken care of that is awesome!!!</div>

I Want Cake

Besides just the caramel, you could roll them in mini chocolate chips and pecans and make them turtle-style. 

I've been obsessed with caramel apples lately, since they're $1 at Cub and they're only 170 calories.  I'd like to try making my own, since I make some badass caramel from scratch.  It's really not hard to do, it's just a matter of timing it just right when you add the cream/butter/sea salt to the molten sugar.  Too early and it doesn't taste like anything, but right before it burns makes it fantasticly flavorful.