Living 2 Eat |

Growing up in Immokalee, Florida, I can remember each Halloween visiting the home of Orville & Margaret Rainwater.   Mrs. Rainwater would spend many hours making candied apples for the countless kids that would ring the doorbell and belt out…  ‘trick or treat’.   

In these store bought days of bulk candy from wholesale clubs, it makes my memories of Mrs. Rainwater’s homemade Halloween treats all the more special.   Of all the nice things I remember about Mr. & Mrs. Rainwater, this memory is one that lasts a lifetime.

Old Fashioned Candied Apples

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups corn syrup

1/3 cup cinnamon candy

1 cup water

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cloves

3/4 tsp red food coloring

6 apples

Remove stems from apples, wash, and pat dry. Insert a wooden skewer in each apple, running through the apple from stem end to base without protruding all the way through the bottom end.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, cinnamon candies, and water in medium-sized saucepan. Cook until candies dissolve, stirring constantly. Be careful not to boil. Add cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, and food coloring. Mix thoroughly. Boil mixture to 300F using a candy thermometer without stirring.

While mixture is boiling, generously prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray so it’s ready ahead of time. As soon as mixture reaches 300F, remove it from heat and quickly dip each apple-one by one-into the mixture until it is thoroughly coated.

Set coated apples, standing on their bottoms with skewer pointing up, on baking sheet until mixture hardens. Let apples reach room temperature before eating.