Caramel Apple Monsters

My daughter requested that we make carmel apples this season. I was just going to make them without doing a post about it. However, once I came up with the idea for Caramel Apple Monsters I figured it became blog worthy. I also want to bring you a carmel apple recipe that does not use cream. I was walking through Walmart Halloween section after I had picked up my apples and saw these scary candy eyeballs made by Wilton. An idea was born. I bought some black writing gel and knew I had candy corns at home to complete the vision in my mind.

The first thing we had to do was make up some carmel. I forgot to buy cream, so I had to search for a new recipe. I found one at Food.com that used sweetened condensed milk. I adapted it slightly, so I am going to give you my own version of this recipe. It was really good, easy to work with and easy to make…didn’t seem as sensitive as some caramels.

Caramel Recipe for Carmel Apples

1 cup butter

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup dark corn syrup (I wanted a darker carmel flavor)

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt (because I like that little taste of salt at the end of my carmel)

This will make 8-10 carmel apples. I used smaller tart apples. I love the smaller portion sizes for kids.

In a heavy saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrups, sweetened condensed milk and salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until the candy thermometer reads 248 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

While it was cooking, I had the girls twist of the apple stems.

I took cake dowels and cut them in half. You can also use chopsticks or tongue depressor sticks.

We stuck the wooden dowels down the center of the apples, and the carmel was done.

You can dip your apples right away, but I have found the carmel then drips down the sides of the apple a bit more. I let mine cool to 150. I’d probably suggest letting it cool to 175-200 because mine was a tad thick. I do kind of like it that way though.

The girls were then able to dip the apples. They did the initial dipping, and I rolled it a bit around the edges so it went a bit more to the top.

Gorgeous.

These are the decorating items I needed to make the monster faces possible: candy corns, Wilton candy eyes and gel writer (also from Wilton).

I let the apples cool slightly. Each of my kids was able to make their own face, adding the eyes and nose. I actually did the mouths. They directed me in the kind of mouth they wanted.

Here are a couple of the faces made by Kenzie and Corban. I told the kids they could make their faces right side up so you could see the monster while it was sitting on the plate or make them upside down so the monster is right side up while you are eating it.

Abby did hers upside down, which I highly recommend.

They turned out super cute.

Abby was excited to share hers with you and then eat it as a snack the next day. Because the carmel is made with sweetened condensed milk, I stored them in the refrigerator, which worked well. We had them the next day, but I’m sure they could stay in the refrigerator a few days.

One thing to keep in mind is that after a while, the candy begins to droop. This was after about 4 hours. I think that is why making them upside down is so great. The eyes drooped into the top carmel and looked like a Frankenstein type character.

We all loved making (and eating) these.