No offense, Scott and Zelda, but this plot of land, pinched between two busy roads in suburban Rockville, Maryland, is easy to miss. Thousands of commuters drive past with nary a wave. Subway trains zip by, oblivious.They’re so beautiful in display cases or the grocery store, glistening with caramel, dotted with peanuts.
But trying to replicate that beautiful goop at home? Not so easy.
There’s gotta be some sort of art behind dipping caramel apples to make each confection pretty and alluring, not coated in burnt, chunky sauce.
Jovon Harvey, a sales associate at Country Kitchen Sweetart, has been making caramel apples for about four years. She burned her first three batches of caramel, she says, and the technique is a trial-and-error one.
Here are her tips for dipping a perfect caramel apple:
•Start with Granny Smith apples. Clean them, and make sure they are perfectly dry.
•De-stem the apples, and insert the stick into the bottom of the apple, twisting as you push, until it become harder to push the stick into the apple, when you’ve reached the seeds.
•To make the caramel, Harvey follows the recipe from the Country Kitchen cookbook, “All About Candy Making,” by Autumn Carpenter. The following recipe is from CountryKitchenSA.com: Microwave 1 pound of non-flowing caramel in a glass bowl for a few seconds at a time, stirring between times until fluid; or melt caramel slowly in a heavy pan over low heat. The trick to keep the caramel from burning, Harvey says, is to constantly stir.
•Dip the apple in the caramel, spinning the apple as you pull it out. This should wick off the excess caramel, creating a smooth look.
•Let the apple dry on a piece of parchment paper. Do not use plastic wrap to store the apples, Harvey warns – the caramel will stick to the wrap.
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