Happy Halloween! I’m not going to trick you: today’s food holiday is a real treat. October 31 is National Caramel Apple Day!
Once upon a time, people handed out homemade caramel apples to trick-or-treaters who came to their doorsteps, but the fear of candy tampering put an end to this. That’s a real shame, because personally I’d much rather have a caramel apple than a lame Tootsie Roll, but that’s just me. Caramel apples were invented in the 1950s by Dan Walker, a sales representative for Kraft Foods. Individually-wrapped caramels were one of Kraft’s top-selling candies, and Walker’s creation led to increased sales (and probably made apple growers pretty happy, too). Recipes for caramel apples were printed on the labels, and still appear to this day. Vito Raimondi invented and patented a caramel apple making machine in 1960, speeding up the manufacturing process. Most people are content to make their own nowadays.
I hadn’t had a caramel apple in years. A couple of weeks ago we went to Hood River, Oregon to buy fresh apples along the “Fruit Loop.” We had some tart, crispy Crimson Crisps left over, so we made caramel apples from scratch. (Well, using a packaged caramel apple kit, but close enough). The contrast between sweet and tart, soft and crisp was wonderful!
Hope you had a spooktacular Halloween!
Related articles
- Sweet Treats – Apple Caramel Edition (seesuestitch.wordpress.com)
- Gourmet Caramel Apples (hello-homebody.com)
- Caramel Apple Cider (yosoyvegan.wordpress.com)
- Making Caramel Apples! (meganbrownn.wordpress.com)
Eat My Words 
I like the taste, but they are too messy for me!
LikeLike
Mess and chewy. But that’s what makes them so good! 😉
LikeLike
I’m with Jill…I love them but my teeth do not! And they do tend to get messy.
That being said, it’s a bit easier to cut an apple into wedges and dunk them in caramel.
And let us not forget the cinnamon flavored caramel apples. Not sure about the caramel part but it’s red and very cinnamony.
LikeLike
I’ve never had one of those cinnamon caramel apples, but I’ve seen them around. Aren’t they called candy apples? Not sure how closely they’re related to the caramel type.
LikeLike
Yeah, probably. Does the cinnamon constitute them being called candy apples?
LikeLike
Pingback: 335/365: National Eat a Red Apple Day | Eat My Words