Chocolate toffee apples - wheat free recipe

Halloween is the perfect time to indulge in the treats that you usually can't justify making at any other time of the year. So with that in mind, how about trying these chocolate toffee apples.

Make sure that the apples you use are firm and not too sweet, in fact the sharper flavour the better as they are coated in sugar (toffee) and chocolate anyway.

Happy haunting!

dietary information:

wheat free yes
gluten free yes
nut free no
dairy free no
vegetarian yes
vegan no

makes 4

apples

4 apples, washed and dried
4 wooden sticks (like popsicle/ice lolly sticks)

toffee

225 g granulated sugar
110 ml water
25 g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
0.5 tsp vinegar

alternative toffee

250 g soft toffees or caramels (ready made, check that they are wheat & gluten free)
tbsp water

coatings

100 g chopped mixed nuts
100 g 72% cocoa chocolate (dark)
100 g white chocolate

1. Place a piece of non-stick baking paper on a tray large enough to hold the apples while setting.
2. Remove the stalks from the apples and push a wooden stick into the apple, avoiding going all the way through.
3. To make the toffee place the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan and melt over a moderate heat. When all the sugar has dissolved add the butter, golden syrup and vinegar. Bring to the boil without stirring.
4. The toffee needs to boil until it reaches the hard crack stage, which means that a small piece of the toffee will harden into a ball when you drop it into a bowl of cold water. It takes about 10 minutes boiling to get to this stage. Alternatively if using a sugar thermometer it should get to 138°C.
5. If you are taking the quicker option then simply place the soft toffees and water in a saucepan or microwave safe bowl, and gently melt the toffees until they are liquid enough to mix with the water. Stir together well.
6. Dip the apples into the toffee, being careful not to get any on your hands as it will weld itself to your skin and burn. Children making these should be supervised at the toffee dipping stage. Make sure that the apples get a good coating of the toffee, although you can leave a little bit of the apple showing at the stick end for decoration. Turn each apple upside down after dipping and let the excess toffee run off.
7. Before the toffee is set, roll the apples in the chopped mixed nuts. It doesn't matter if the nut coating is a bit patchy, it makes it look more interesting. Then place each apple upside down on the non-stick paper to set.
8. Once the toffee is set then the chocolate can be melted. In separate bowls place the dark and white chocolate broken into small pieces, then melt, either using a bain marie (how to melt chocolate) or the microwave. If using the microwave melt the chocolate slowly to ensure that it doesn't burn. White chocolate is especially hard to melt correctly in the microwave.
9. Drizzle the dark chocolate over each toffee coated apple. Then drizzle the white chocolate over the top of the dark chocolate. Immediately place the apples on their tray in the fridge so that the chocolate can harden. If you don't place them in the fridge then the chocolate will simply pool at the bottom of the apple, and it will look like an apple on a marbled plate of chocolate (definitely not the effect that you're after).
10. When the chocolate is set they are ready to serve. For the sake of safety do not serve the chocolate toffee apples on their sticks to young children, remove the sticks first. You can also quarter the apples and serve as chocolate toffee apple wedges.

...of course, you don't have to make these just for Halloween, they're good anytime.


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