Sunday, May 1, 2011

Amaretto-Spiked Caramel Apple Bites

It's time again for another recipe swap! Every month, I share a recipe from a vintage cookbook and turn it loose on a wonderful bunch of bloggers, who each reinterpret the recipe in their own way. Our assignment this month was to remake "Ozarkian Taffy Apples", which in its original form, was a very hard, crude caramel, a "Prairie Caramel" as fellow blogger Linda put it.

We are an ever-changing group which includes old hands Dennis, Toni, Sabrina, Lora and Lindsay, who will be posting on Tuesday since she was busy with Foodbuzz' 24x24 project (congrats!), to newer swappers Mary, Crissy and Lauren, Pola, Jamie, Claire, Shari, Joy, Monique and Jennifer, to brand new participants Linda, Tricia and Priya, another blogger from Australia to the mix. We are vegans, gluten-free types, vegetarians, utter carnivores and sweets freaks who share a common passion for being in the kitchen. Please take a moment to look at how everyone reinterpreted the same recipe and leave your thoughts for all of us on our pages! We love hearing from you.

It was bound to happen at one point along the recipe swap, or at any point in food blogging, meeting an uncooperative recipe. The Ozarkian Taffy Apples recipe was a series of trials for me, from the chocolate amaretto dipping sauce that didn't work out, to four tries to get the caramel right, to figuring out how to plate it without it looking like a catering photograph. All of these misses distilled down into Caramel Apple Bites, which, it turns out, were so delicious I ate about ten of them while I was assembling them for photography, making myself sick in the process.  I had to step away, go run some errands and come back to shoot the photographs. It's a back-handed endorsement, certainly, but they're so tasty, they'll make you sick to your stomach.

The lesson: Simplicity is King. These are soft, buttery caramels laced with Amaretto liqueur on top of tangy apples. That's it. And, they're pretty darned cute in a little group together, which was how I ended up eating a whole plate of them. Enjoy!
Amaretto-Spiked Caramel Apple Bites
Burwell General Store

Serves: 10 as appetizers, (50-60 pieces)

Active time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 1/2 hours


Equipment:
Candy thermometer, digital if you have it
9" x 12" baking pan

Caramel:
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
3 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp Amaretto liqueur
Canola oil cooking spray

Apples:
Four large, crisp, tart apples, any variety, I used Pink Ladies
Toothpicks
one lemon

Method
Caramel:
Pour sugar, corn syrup and one cup of cream into a small, heavy-bottomed saucepot and heat over medium low.  Bring to a boil, and slowly stir, taking care to constantly scrape all edges of the pot until the mixture heats to 234F, about 15 minutes.  (The syrup will bubble up, then ease back down, then begin to deepen in color.)  Once you have reached 234F, very slowly, pour in the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, keeping the contents boiling the entire time.  After it is back up to a gentle boil, add butter, and bring the contents up to 244F (soft ball). Do not exceed this temperature. (At 250F you reach an irreversible "hard ball" stage.) Pull from heat and add Amaretto, stirring in quickly.  Pour contents into a well-oiled baking pan and let completely cool. You should have a very thin layer of caramel, about 1/8" of an inch. Once cool, remove from pan onto plastic cutting board, and keeping your knife oiled, cut into 1/2" x 1/4" rectangles. You may have better luck making clean cuts if you refrigerate the caramel for 30 minutes.
Apples:
Cut apples into 1/2" x 1/4" rectangles, or any shape you like. (If you stick to the cubes, you'll have a lot of misshapen apple pieces left over.)  Place cubes into a bowl of water with the juice of a half a lemon squeezed into it.  Once apples are cut, begin assembly.  Remove apples one cube at a time and pat dry. Place square of caramel on top, pierce with toothpick, and plate.


Notes: make sure you know where the element is in your thermometer. One of my mistakes was caused by an element that seemed to only read the temperature about two inches up the needle, and my caramel was only an inch deep in the pan, thus scorching my caramel.  Also, the total time it takes to get the caramel to 244F can be up to 30 minutes, so be patient!

12 comments:

  1. darling, just darling. Can't wait to post mine. Sorry I'll be a couple of days late (but if you look at my 24x24 post, you'll see what I've been busy with!).

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  2. So lovely! These seem like the perfect alternative to their perennially messy forebearer, which I love to consume but hate to clean from my and my kids' hands, shirts, etc.

    It's like grownup fair food!

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  3. Very clever and chic! The perfect end presentation does not reflect your trials and tribulations with the finicky caramel. Looks gorgeous.

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  4. These look perfect. In fact, this is how I'd prefer to eat a caramel apple!! Great idea. Thank-you for letting me be a part of this fun group! I enjoyed it all greatly. :> Nicolle

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  5. I want to eat these NOW!! They look so chewey and sweet and delightful. And isn't it always a delightful reminder when sometimes simplicity ends up being the most delicious part of a recipe!? Thanks for this lovely post, and the opportunity to join this group and share inspiration!

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  6. Those look awesome! And GREAT photo!! I am a little slow, so somehow I missed that I needed to link to everyone's blog!! Doing that right now... doh! xo

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  7. I bet those were delicious! That hint of amaretto was such a great idea, it complimented the caramel and with the tart sweetness of the apple, it must have been a symphony of flavors coming together in that one little bite....sigh.....I can see why you devoured so many of them! Simplicity does have its place and it certainly served you well with these little beauties!
    Thanks for another great swap, it has been a lot of fun participating, I am grateful for the opportunity!
    Cheers
    Dennis

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  8. Delightful and simple. I like that you kept the apple on a stick and love the idea of spiking the caramel with Amaretto even more!

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  9. This was such a fun recipe to work with. Your bites look divine! I love the addition of Amaretto:)Thank you for having me in the group, my sweet friend!

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  10. oh very nice!!! Love the little bites, and what's not to love about Amaretto? It makes everything taste incredible. I really like pink ladies- they are becoming my favorite cooking apple- although the braeburns I used in mine were a bit of a surprise. I really like the sweet-tart quality of the pink ladies- a nice compliment to the amaretto!

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  11. Replies
    1. That's a great question- I dipped each piece of apple in lemon water to prevent them from browning, but even so, their "shelf life" on the counter on a plate is about four hours...if there's any left by then. ;)

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