Well, the first test is done and out of the way. I chose to start small and work my way up to some larger, more time-consuming projects. When I saw the picture of the Inside Out Caramel Apple Slices, I was drawn to how smooth and shiny the caramel seemed. I immediately began to wonder how the caramel held its shape while looking that smooth. I suspected that there was some trickery going on with the camera work or at least with the finished project. I encountered a couple of problems.
The first thing I noticed about the recipe was the large brown sugar to liquid ratio in the caramel sauce; 16 oz (by volume) of brown sugar to 6 oz (by volume) of liquid. I could tell that this was not only going to be dense, but that it would most likely be grainy as well. I was right. When the sauce reached the correct temp, I pulled it from the heat and stirred it until the bubbling stopped. I tried it quickly for taste and consistency and my suspicions were confirmed. All of that brown sugar could not dissolve that quickly into that little liquid.
After letting the sauce cool for the appropriate amount of time, I poured it into my prepared apples. The sauce was a bit runny, so I was careful to prop the apples up to prevent spilling. I cooled the apples and caramel for 30 minutes and cut them up. The caramel did set up, but did not stick to the apple very well. The result of which was that the individual wedges of caramel began to separate from the apple, leaving me with individual caramel wedges and apple wedges.
The finished product tastes good, after all, it is basically apple slices with caramel sauce. I just can’t get over the consistency of the sauce, I would rather save the trouble of preparing this and just make the caramel sauce a little more creamy (more cream, adding more butter when the sauce is removed from the heat) and dip my apples directly into it. As an aside, the caramel sauce doesn’t just set up in the refrigerator, it also sets up at room temperature. I currently have a Tupperware container of hardened, grainy caramel (as the amount in the recipe was too much for the apples) with no purpose. I suspect I can reheat it and finish it off with more butter and cream. Maybe then I will get the dipping sauce I desire.
If you are looking for a quick, somewhat healthy snack (there isn’t a lot of fat in the caramel), by all means, go ahead and try this one. If you are looking to use them as part of an evening of entertaining, you might want to stick with letting your guests dip for themselves.
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