Toffee Apples - Bonfire Night

Hi guys, so it's Bonfire night once again and in our books, one of the most Autumnal and festive nights of the year! We love this time of year and all of the accompanying traditions that it has - so, to be as traditional as possible, we have bought you our foolproof classic - Toffee Apples!

Makes 8

Ingredients:
100ml Water plus extra for boiling to cover apples
450g Golden Caster Sugar
2 tsp vinegar
4 tbsp Golden Syrup
8 Eating apples of your choice - not huge ones!
A dash of red food colouring

Method:
1. Place apples in a large bowl and pour over some boiling water to cover. This will remove the waxy coating and help the caramel to stick. Dry and twist off any stalks. Push a wooden skewer or lolly stick into the end of the apple where the stalk used to be.

2. Lay out a sheet of grease-proof paper (baking parchment) and place the apples on this. Tip the sugar into a pan along with 100ml water and put on a medium heat. Cook for 5 mins until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the vinegar and syrup. Set a sugar thermometer in the pan and boil to 140°C or the 'hard crack' stage. If you don't have a thermometer you can test the toffee by pouring a little into a bowl of cold water. If it hardens instantly and, when removed, be brittle and easy to break, it is ready. If you can still squish the toffee, continue to boil it. Quickly stir in the food colouring.

3. Working quickly and carefully, cover each apple in the hot toffee by dipping them in, let any excess drip away, then place on the baking parchment to harden. You can heat the toffee a little if it starts to set before you have finished using it. Leave the toffee to cool before eating.

Enjoy as a treat any time of the year or as a traditional Autumnal snack!

*You can use bright red and dark green food colourings (not both at the same time, but in separate toffees) to create some Christmassy festive treats!*

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

As featured on: http://www.kategowing.blogspot.co.uk/
and: http://www.jimmerickstheblog.blogspot.co.uk/

As this is someone else's recipe that we haven't made any significant changes to, We are going to link the posts where the recipes for the cupcakes, icing and caramel can be found on Kate's blog - it really is worth a looking at anyhow - and we will just pop a few of the pics that we took of our finished products below. It honestly is an amazing recipe, and is so easy to make - the caramel was surprisingly easy to whip up also, especially for such a useful and delicious ingredient.

The caramel can be used for so many different things: coffee, cakes, ice cream topping etc.

So, go and have a look at Kate's Blog! Thanks!

Kate's Blog 
Her Salted Caramel Recipe
Her Cupcakes and icing recipe

Our Cupcakes:

White Chocolate Fondue

There are so many different things that you could do with this recipe - the possibilities are endless! If you were to take the 'Halloween Themed' approach, you could even find a large pumpkin and serve in a bowl that will fit inside the pumpkin for the ultimate table show-stopper at a Halloween party!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup double/whipping cream

12 oz white chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until hot, about 2 to 3 minutes.

2. When hot, add the chocolate and stir until it is just

melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla. Transfer to a warm fondue pot.

3. Serve with your choices of fresh strawberries, bananas, apple wedges, pound cake, ladyfingers, and biscotti. Serves 6 or more.

Variations:

At Halloween/Autumn - try adding a splash of orange food colouring and perhaps a little orange flavouring in the place of the vanilla, for a pumpkin colour-inspired Halloween mess!
At Easter - try adding a dash of pink or pastel yellow food colouring for that baby-pastel coloured Easter time colour theme!
At Christmas - substitute 2 to 3 tablespoons of kirsch, brandy, rum, or orange liqueur for the vanilla. You could even add a little pinch of cinnamon or a quick zesting of a fresh Clementine for that exceptionally distinct Christmas taste!