Every year I make caramel apples and I promise they’re coming too, but I decided to give red candied carnival apples a shot.

They turned out pretty good but I’m sure practice will make perfect!

If you make these, please be really careful while working with the sugar. If you don’t have enough leftover at the end to dip that last apple, resist the urge to use a spoon to drizzle the goo onto that final apple or risk burning yourself. Trust me. It’s not fun!

Here’s the recipe I went with after a bit of trial and error:

Ingredients:
12 apples (I used MacIntosh because that’s what I had on hand but I’m sure Granny Smith or any other variety would work great too)
12 Popsicle sticks
4 cups white sugar
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
A few drops red food coloring (or you could use another color if you like or even a food coloring substitute like beet juice or seeded/juiced raspberries work great too and add a nice flavor)
Parchment paper or an aluminum foil-lined pan (not wax paper!)

Combine sugar and water and boil on high until the temperature reaches 300 degrees (F) on a candy thermometer. This takes a while of rapid boiling and frequent stirring. If you don’t have a candy thermometer (or a deep fry thermometer) available, every once in a while drop a little of the mixture into a cup of cold water. When the mixture forms a hard ball, then it’s done. Tip: The coating is supposed to be “like glass” or hard candy.

While you’re making the coating, prepare your apples. Wash them. If you’re using store bought apples, you’ll want to remove the waxy film. I use a solution of 2 parts water to one part vinegar to do so.

Once they’re clean, dry them off and insert the sticks.

Once mixture is ready, remove from heat and stir in the droplets of color. Then quickly (but carefully) dip the apples one at a time into the mixture, being sure to coat the whole apple. Then place it gently onto the parchment paper or aluminum foil lined pan (do not use wax paper because the heat will melt it onto the apples – yuck!).

Once all the apples are dipped, let them cool and enjoy!