Sweet As: Rose Candy Toffee Apples

Say it sweetly with this bunch of candy toffee apples that look like roses! Take half a dozen small apples and a rose muffin mould to make these gorgeous rose toffee apples that are super easy to make with just a few ingredients. Say I love you with this sweet, creative dessert!

Candy or toffee apples are easy to make but you can make these even fancier with a rose silicon mold! Make half a dozen candy roses for your loved one. I'll guide you through the best way to get glossy, gorgeous candy apples with a delicious crunch!

Tips For Making Candy Toffee Apples

1 - It is best to make these candy apples using a candy thermometer. Sugar has to reach certain temperatures before it is able to become toffee and it is very hard to tell that it has reached that unless you have a candy thermometer. I use this candy thermometer which I like because it is marked where the various stages are at. You can also use these thermometers for deep frying. Just make sure to store it in the box so that the glass at the bottom doesn't break.

2 - You can find the silicon rose muffin molds at candle or craft stores.

3 - Look for small apples that fit into the mould. They shouldn't be larger than the mould cavity. I took the mould with me to the shops to make sure - basically if they're small and less than 100g/3.5ozs each they should be fine.

4 - I use glucose syrup or liquid glucose to stop the sugar from crystallising.

5 - These are best made on the day of serving.

6 - Try not to put more than half a dozen into a vase because apples are very top heavy and your vase will tip over otherwise! Just speaking from experience haha ;)

7 - Candy or toffee syrup gets very, very hot so please be careful. I wouldn't make these around kids as hot syrup can be dangerous.

Speaking of kids, I wanted to make these for when the Elliotts came over because while Mr NQN likes toffee apples I think testing these out produced more than a single person could or should eat. I have lots of fond memories eating toffee apples as a kid. It was one of the few treats that my parents didn't mind giving us and I used to absolutely love crunching into the toffee outer into the juicy apple inside.

For Mr NQN's nieces and nephews I think I’m probably the strict aunt. It's not that I don't like kids but honestly, it depends on the child. Mr NQN's niece Aura is absolutely divine. She is super polite, thoughtful and lovely and she has always been like that.

But Mr NQN’s nephews Jett and Finn are a bit of a challenge for me. They are rambunctious which I give them a bit of a pass for as they are very young but I don’t like children that aren’t polite and never say please or thank you. So I’ve become that aunt that when I give them something I say, "So what do you say?" because I’m not giving them a pass on that.

I’m also the aunt that is always looking. Because they run in and out of the house all the time I require them to shut the door after they open it. Every time they go in or out they watch me to see if I am watching. I think they consider me scary and strict, but with good food. And that's fine by me!

So tell me Dear Reader, are you a strict or more laissez faire with kids? Do you like candy or toffee apples?

Candy Toffee Apples

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Print Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Makes 6 toffee apples

2 cups/440g sugar
3/4 cup/190ml water
1/4 cup/85g/3ozs liquid glucose
Red food colouring gel
6 apples (100g/3.5ozs each)
Silicon Rose muffin mould
6 twigs (thick enough to hold up an apple)

Step 1 - Lightly spray the cavity of the silicon rose mould. Wash the apples and the twigs and dry well. Stick the thin end of a chopstick into the top of the apple and then remove. Then place the twigs inside the hole pushing down to secure them.

Step 2 - Place the sugar, water and liquid glucose in a heavy based saucepan and clip a sugar thermometer to the side of the pan. Bring to a boil - there is no need to stir the sugar at all, just bring it to a boil and when it gets to "soft crack" stage (132-143C/270-290F) add in the red food colouring. Then cook until it reaches the hard crack stage at 146-155C/ 295-310F. Watch carefully when it goes from soft crack to hard. It will take a long time to get to soft crack stage and there will be a point in which you wonder why isn't it moving.

Step 3 - When it has reached the hard crack temperature, turn down the heat to the lowest flame and quickly but carefully dip the apples in the toffee allowing excess toffee to drip off into the mold so that you get a thick layer of toffee to fill out the rose detail. If the toffee starts to harden up place the pot back on the flame to prevent it cooling and hardening. These candy apples are best made on the day of serving especially if the weather is warm and humid.