Toffee Apples

Remove the stalks from the apples and place them in your kitchen sink, making sure of course that it is clean. Pour water from a kettle that has just boiled over the apples. This removes any coating and makes it easy for the toffee to adhere to the apples. Dry them off. Drive your wooden lolly sticks into the centre at the core area of each apple. Make sure you leave enough exposed to hold the apple.

Lay out a sheet of grease proof paper on your work surface close to your stove top where you will be making the toffee.

Tip the sugar and the water into a high sided, heavy bottomed pan (not non-stick) on a medium high heat until the sugar dissolves. This will take about 5 minutes.

Add the vinegar and the syrup and turn up the heat to high to bring the mix to a boil. Allow it to boil rapidly until it reaches a temperature of 140°C / 280°F. If you have a sugar thermometer you can use this to measure. However, if you, like me do not have a thermometer, you can check the temperature by dropping a teaspoon full or so of the mix into a bowl of cold water. If it hardens and becomes brittle immediately it is ready. If it is at all squidgy or soft, keep boiling until you reach this ‘hard crack’ stage.

When the toffee is ready it’s time to work swiftly and of course carefully. I like to tip my pan to the side allowing the toffee to collect at the side of the pan giving me a deeper dipping area, take an apple by the lolly stick, dunk it, twist and swirl until coated, stand the apple upside down as it were, on the grease proof paper and repeat. Leave the toffee apples to harden. They will keep for a couple of days, but make sure you store them in a cool place or the toffee may melt.