Traditional Toffee Apple

Put apples in a large bowl and cover with boiling water to remove any waxy residue on the skin and help the caramel to stick. Leave them to sit for 1 minute and then drain and dry thoroughly with kitchen roll. Carefully push a wooden skewer ¾ of the way into each of the apples. Rest the apples, skewers up, on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Add 300g of golden caster sugar to a medium-sized pan with 3 tbsp of golden syrup and 5 tbsp of water. Swirl the water so it covers the sugar but do not stir, heat on a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil the sugar syrup until it reaches 140°C on a sugar thermometer. Make sure not to stir the caramel at any time, you can just swirl it around gently in the pan. Once the toffee has reached 140°c, work quickly to dip each apple (using the skewer) into the caramel, tipping the pan to get an even coating whilst rotating the apple. Be very careful not to touch the caramel as it will be extremely hot. Repeat quickly with the other apples. If the mixture becomes too stiff, return it to the heat for a minute until it has softened. You can now leave the apples to cool on the baking tray – skewer side pointing up – or immediately after the apples are dipped, sprinkle them with nuts or sprinkles. Make sure to sprinkle the toppings over the apple rather than dipping the apples into the bowl – you don't want them to set in the bowl! Leave to set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and then enjoy.

For chocolate coated apples, pour callets into a bowl and place over a pan of boiling water ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the hot liquid. Allow to chocolate to gently melt and heat until it reaches 28-30°C for milk & white chocolate or 30-32°C for dark chocolate. Once ready to use coat the apples with the chocolate using the same method above for toffee apples, allow to cool slightly, then decorate with nuts, sprinkles or chocolate swirls.