There are many food associations for the month of October and Halloween. But personally, I can think of no other recipe that rings as true to this autumnal month than baked apples.
Apples themselves are an odd entity in the candy world, mainly lending themselves to either a sour apple flavoring or through the ever-popular candy apple. Aside from those formats, one rarely finds apple anywhere in the candy world.
So why am I talking about fruit when it is the antithesis of the holiest candy holiday of the year? Because you can’t just serve your guests candy at your Halloween party! Well… you could, but you shouldn’t. That is why instead of my typical candy bar for the month, I thought up a recipe that combines my favorite things about apples and gave them a candy makeover.
In the end, I decided I would combine my favorite elements to create a hybrid between a baked apple and a candy apple. The result is October’s candy recipe for what I call the Grand Apple, the perfect treat to serve any guest, whether they be a sugar-loving child or a nutrition-stubborn parent.
The Grand Apple is essentially your basic baked apple, but then it is covered in a layer of homemade toffee, topped with a crown of white chocolate, and coated with a variety of goodies.
You will need:
- 1 Medium-Sized Saucepan
- 1 Medium-Sized Bowl
- 1 Baking Dish
- Candy Thermometer
- Spoon or Apple Corer
Ingredients:
- 1 large apple (Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, or Jonagold are best for baking)
- 2 Tablespoons of Butter
- 10 Ounces of Brown Sugar
- 4 Ounces of Walnuts
- 4 Ounces of Pecans
- 2 Ounces of White Vinegar
- 4 Ounces of Raisins, Currants, or Dried Cranberries
- 1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon of Nutmeg
- 1 Tablespoon of Allspice
- A Cup and a Half of Water
- 1 Ounce of Shaved Coconut
1. Preheat your over to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash your apple and core it using either a spoon or an apple corer. There should be about a half-inch between the bottom of the apple and the cored portion. Place in the baking ban.
2. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, dried fruit, and a quarter of the chopped nuts, mixing all the components until they are evenly distributed. Scoop the mixture into the cored apple. Cut several slices from a tablespoon of butter and set it on top of the filling.
3. Pour a half-cup of boiling water into the baking dish. Set the baking dish into the oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the apple. You’ll know it’s done when your apple is baked, but still not mushy.
4. When the apple is fully baked, remove it from the oven to cool. As it cools, prepare the toffee by pouring a cup of brown sugar, 2 ounces of white vinegar, one tablespoon of butter, and a cup of water into the saucepan.
5. Stir the toffee mixture until the sugar dissolves over a high flame. Let it sit for several minutes and then resume stirring. Let the mixture reach the hard crack candy stage (about 275 degrees Fahrenheit). It will be very viscous at this point.
6. When it reaches the temperature, remove the saucepan from the open flame. Place the baked apple into a small bowl. Pour the toffee with the aid of a spatula or spoon over the apple, coating it evenly. Dust the toffee with the remaining nuts, dried fruit, and coconut.
7. Temper the white chocolate with a double boiler or melting it in the microwave. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the apple.
This treat can be eaten as soon as it’s prepared, and it goes nicely with a dollop of your favorite ice cream. Sure, it’s no Snickers, but your dentist and doctor will thank you for eating something with a little nutrition this holiday.
I had to comment…you don’t really think this recipe is nutritious, do you? I don’t want to be a buzzkill, but I just to speak out. There is this false idea that just because a recipe includes a fruit, it’s nutritious. That’s false.
I ran your recipe through a Nutritiondata.com, and it adds up to 3335 calories. That’s about twice the calories that people eat in a single day. (And no, it’s not a typo. I checked twice.) It includes 186 grams of fat–36 grams of which are saturated.
Now, in your defense, I wonder if the measurements in your recipe are wrong. For example, your recipe calls for white chocolate, but it’s listed no where in your ingredient list. Do you really want people to use half a pound of nuts (8 oz total of walnuts and pecans) and more than half a pound of sugar for a single baked appel?
I’m sure it’s a delicious recipe, but please don’t tell people that this is a nutritious recipe!
October 28th, 2008 at 9:32 amJen, thanks for your comment. First, I am sorry if you read this as a fully nutritious recipe; this being a candy website, I supposed the facetiousness would be more apparent.
Second, though your calorie estimates seem accurate, there are two flaws to it. First, this thing is a behomoth in size and can easily be split among several people, hence why the recipe called for only one apple. You completely neglected portion scales. Next, your argument against calories is somewhat misleading. You completely take out of context nutritional roundness. Yes, there is a hald-pound of nuts in here, but diveded amongst 4 people, that’s 2 ounces. 2 ounces of nuts will provide a bit of fat, but most of it is essential nonsaturated fat while being loaded with omega 3s and protein, which is why you are advised to eat an ounce or two a day.
Honestly, even 2 tablespoons of better isn’t that much, especially divided amongst several people. The main caloris density comes from the nuts, which I already explained, and the sugar. If you have read any of my other recpies, you would see that I frequently advocated artificial sweetners for those watching caloric intake; I figured my regular readers concerned with that would remember my conversion.
Thus, is you used something like splenda, that’s about 1000 calories shaved. Now that is about 2400 calories total. Divide that by four, and you get 600 per person. That 600 does have fat to it, but most is concentrated in the good form (according to your numbers, less than 20 percent of it is saturated, well below the one-third dietary recommendations). It is also chocked full of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants because of the fruit and nuts in it.
So is this healthier than a regular apple? Of course not. But it isn’t the armagedon you assume it to be. I maintain an 8-percent body fat ratio for a reason, and when consumed in the right portion, like any dessert, this one is pretty darn good for you. As opposed to something like a cake, there are actually nutritionally substantive elements to it, marred only by the sugar, which comes in at just more than a cup. Especially when you compare it just to candy, which was my original comparison, you’ll find it to be nothing in the same ballpark.
October 28th, 2008 at 12:05 pmRobby,
I appreciate that you took the time to respond with a thoughtful answer. But I still have to disagree with you.
1. I acknowledge that I was reading this as a recipe that serves one person. But since you acknowledge that the amounts are correct, I reanalyzed the recipe. I divided it into 4 servings, but I also added in the white chocolate (how about a cup of chips for the entire recipe?) that wasn’t included in the original list of ingredients. (I omitted the ice cream that you suggest to accompany the dish.) The result (per serving, assuming 4 servings per recipe):
Calories: 1063
Calories from fat: 511
Total fat: 60 grams (92% of the RDA)
Saturated fat: 17 grams (86% of the RDA)
Carbohydrates: 134 grams
Fiber: 7 grams
Sugar: 119 grams
Protein: 11 grams
Vitamin A: 5%
Calcium: 21%
Vitamin C: 6%
Iron: 16%
Omega 3: 2893 mg
Omega 6: 17115 mg
In your post, you say: “The result is October’s candy recipe for what I call the Grand Apple, the perfect treat to serve any guest, whether they be a sugar-loving child or a nutrition-stubborn parent.” and “Sure, it’s no Snickers, but your dentist and doctor will thank you for eating something with a little nutrition this holiday.”
The only thing that’s true in those statements is that a “sugar-loving child” would be happy.
2. In your comment you mention substituting Splenda, but the recipe calls for using a cup of the brown sugar to make toffee. I ask this in all seriousness (both as a toffee lover and a Splenda user): Can you make toffee with Splenda? If you can, that’s fantastic…I’ll do it. But I question whether it’s possible.
3. I do a lot of work trying to educate kids and adults about healthy eating. In case you didn’t notice, we’ve become a nation of fat, sedentary people. And even though this was posted on a candy blog, I think you’re doing a disservice by suggesting that this is even remotely nutritious. I think there’s a place for a candy and sweets in a balanced diet. But you can’t seriously suggest that a dessert with 1000+ calories per serving is nutritious and full of vitamins, fiber and antioxidants. Sure it is…as long as the eater slashes the rest of his food consumption during the day to account for eating a 1000 calorie . And if you do that, you come up terribly short on lots of other nutritional areas.
4. Even though I’m arguing with you about this, I’m mainly arguing about the way that you presented this. If you wrote it up as a recipe that called for four apples to be sliced, laid in a shallow baking dish, baked, then topped with all of this goodness, then cut into 16 servings with 250 calories each, I wouldn’t have batted an eyelash.
October 28th, 2008 at 1:35 pmI would only use between 2 to 4 ounces of white chocolate to temper, as it’s only a crown, not a coat. As for toffee with splenda, it is definitely possible. I’d be interested in hearing about your interpretation of the recipe with four, smaller apples. As I always say in my recipes, customize to your liking. Nix the chocolate, reduce the nuts, etc…. I mean, you could just have the baked apple with the splenda toffee and coat it in some like a thin mist of whole wheat graham cracker and I think that would be more along your preference.
October 28th, 2008 at 2:30 pmI have seen the little baseball chocolates. They were the bomb!!! I don’t think my kids have even seen those. That was my favorite candy to find in my pumpkin head basket after trick or treating. lv those!!
October 28th, 2008 at 4:46 pmWell, IMO if someone takes the time to make this delicious recipe I feel the calories are at least well-earned (as compared to buying a pie at Denny’s or Perkins).
This looks good to me!
October 28th, 2008 at 5:36 pmRobby,
This looks excellent, and I have to agree with you that it has some nutritious and tasty ingredients. I’ve just been looking for a good dessert using apples, so perfect timing. Thanks for sharing this delightfully seasonal recipe with us!
P.S. Perhaps it’s just my inner candy addict speaking, but I have to say that anyone who hasn’t gone over 2000 calories at least once in his/her life has never really lived ;)
October 28th, 2008 at 6:30 pmThough I agree that as a nation (the U.S.) we have slacked on our dietary and health needs in a lot of areas, in all fairness to the poster, I wanted to point out a few key problems with the argument that is seeming to be made that this is some sort of ‘sugar coated’ (pun intended) toxin:
1) You ARE on a candy website. If you’re an adult, and you read the ingredients and don’t realize that this is not the equivalent of a bowl of plain oatmeal, I doubt any amount of facts or nutrition info will save you. Seriously. And if you’re a child, on the internet, planning to make something not only from a candy website but something that requires using the oven, step away from the keyboard and find your parents. Don’t mess with the oven or eat large amounts of ANYTHING without your parents consent first. It’s bad for you. Trust me.
2) This IS a dessert recipe, not to mention a special occasion dessert recipe. If you were eating this nightly, sure, you’d have a problem. But I think we all caught the drift that this was not the substitute for a cup of shaved ice or fresh fruit as a dessert. This IS calorie-rich. This is ALSO nutrition rich. There is a give and take with any food. Between this and a big bowl of whole fat ice cream loaded with syrups and trimmings, with no nutritional value whatsoever, I think we can all agree that this would be the better option, again, in moderation.
3) Your doctor and dentist would definitely be happier with this choice than for you to sit and eat candy all night. Which is, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, what Halloween has become all about. Holidays only come once a year for a reason. It sort of balances out the scales of moderation for us, to an extent. And if you were able to look your doctor in the eye and say, ‘actually doc, I had this really great apple dessert, with a real whole baked apple, plenty of nuts and some coconut, but it also had some candy toffee and chocolate on it!’, they would be more likely to ask you for the recipe (and then make sure you weren’t eating it daily, as stated before) than to lecture you about calorie or fat content.
Oh, and the only other thing. I realize that teaching others about good eating habits is a commendable action. But coming on a site called ‘Candy Addict’ and, though very calmly and rationally, lecturing someone who was only trying to share a modestly healthy holiday treat recipe with the rest of us because you weren’t convinced that the average person old enough to make this treat on their own wouldn’t be able to tell that this was meant as a fun treat to be eaten once a year is a bit, well, pretentious. I love this site. I think the writers and staff are fantastic, and I recommend it to everyone I know. Never have I been misled by them into thinking anything they reviewed or offered as a recipe was meant to be the next slim fast shake, or the next daily staple in my diet. The whole site is about treats. And if the average person can’t tell from the title of the site that it isn’t meant to be a guide to eating healthy, they’ve got bigger problems than a candy apple recipe.
I shall now get off my defensive soapbox long enough to say:
You’re killing me! I totally don’t have access to a stove at the moment (yay for hubby fixing things instead of calling a repairman? :P) and won’t be able to try this one out for possibly quite a while :( But I can SMELL the apple coming off the computer screen, and it smells fantastic! Great post!
October 28th, 2008 at 6:49 pmWhoa, sorry for the novel :(
*shame*
October 28th, 2008 at 6:50 pmLindsey, let me know how the recipe turns out for you.
October 29th, 2008 at 12:00 pm