RED, WHITE AND BLUE CANDIED APPLES
Hi!
I hope you and your family had a lovely, celebratory 4th of July weekend.
As I told you in yesterdays post, we celebrated our 4th of July on the lake.
And as promised, all this week I am going to share my recipes for the food I prepared for our 4th of July dinner.
These recipes are good any time of year, but you might want to think about making them for your Memorial Day festivities. So today I thought I’d start by showing you how to make my Red, White and Blue Candied Apples.
They are truly multi functional, serving as both party favors and place card holders. And to top it off they are as delicious as they are pretty.
As you might have noticed by now, I do a lot of shopping at Costco. This time of year Costco carries wonderful, large, Royal Gala Apples, perfect for making candied apples. They come in a 12 pack too!
Start by thoroughly washing and then thoroughly drying your apples. My recipe makes about 10 candied apples but you can prepare as many or as few as you desire.
The next thing you will need are white lollipop sticks. I buy these Wilton Brand sticks at Michael’s here. Insert a stick into the stem side of each apple, pressing it down about 1 inch so it is secure. Try to make sure you push the stick into the apple so that it is in an upright position, even though the apple may be somewhat crooked.
You’ll also need 12 ounces of good quality White Melting Chocolate. I am partial to the Ghirardelli Brand of melting wafers, which are also conveniently carried by my local grocery store. If your store does not carry them you can purchase them online here. Carefully follow the package instructions for melting your chocolate. I find it easiest and quickest to melt chocolate in the microwave, although it can also be done in a double boiler.
Once you have melted your chocolate you’ll need to work quickly. I melted my chocolate in a large, Pyrex measuring cup that is microwave safe and is also just the right size for dipping my apples into. So, simply dip the apples into the melted chocolate, covering about 2/3rd’s of the apple. Ideally you’ll want to end up with 1/3rd of the red apple showing, 1/3 of the white chocolate showing, and 1/3rd of the blue sprinkled section showing. Hopefully you will be more skilled at this process than I.
Speaking of blue sprinkles, I used Cake Mate Blue Crystal Decors in a sprinkle container. You can also dye your own sugar or use a navy blue sugar which is perhaps more patriotic. I used what I had on hand.
Holding your dipped apple over a bowl to catch the excess sugar, sprinkle blue sugar crystals onto the bottom third the the melted chocolate, turning the apple as you sprinkle.
Have a cookie sheet lined in parchment paper at the ready on which to place your dipped and sugar-sprinkled apples.
Repeat this process until you have dipped and sprinkled all your apples. I found that one bag of Ghirardelli Melting Disks has enough chocolate to dip about 10 apples. One, 2.25 ounce jar of sugar sprinkles is all the sugar you need as well. You can also reuse the excess sugar that is caught in the bowl.
The final step is to place your chocolate dipped apples in the refrigerator and allow them to cool for about 1 hour before packaging them.
In the meantime you can make the flags that I added to the top of each candy apple stick. I used free clip art that I downloaded some time ago and is no longer available. I found something similar that you can download for free here. Then, I simply used a Sharpie to write each guests name on the flag, turning my Red, White and Blue Candied Apples into place cards too!
I used double-sided tape to attach the flags to the lollipop sticks and then packaged my candy apples in 5.5″ x 3.23″ x 12″ cellophane bags. I always have cellophane bags on hand. I buy them here from Shinoda Design Center.
Then, using ribbon, simply tie the bags up and place them on your table.
Save this recipe for your next Patriotic Party by pinning it to your Pinterest Page. You can visit my Pinterest Page here for lots more Patriotic inspiration.
ENJOY!
- 10 Large, Red Apples
- 12 Ounces Good Quality White Chocolate Melting Wafers
- 1 - 2.25 Ounce Jar Blue Crystal Decors (colored sugar)
- 10 - Lollipop Sticks
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Thoroughly wash and dry apples.
- Insert lollipop stick into stem side of apples.
- Following package instructions, melt the white chocolate wafers.
- Stir the melted chocolate until it is liquid and creamy.
- Dip an apple into the melted chocolate, covering ⅔rds of the apple.
- Quickly sprinkle the lower third of the apple with blue sugar crystals.
- Place the apple onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Quickly repeat this process until all apples have been dipped and sprinkled.
- Place apples in the refrigerator to cool for about 1 hour before packaging.
- Follow the directions on my blog post for packaging ideas.
So there you have it: RED, WHITE AND BLUE CANDIED APPLES
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