Caramel Dipped Fruit Food

CREAMY CARAMEL FRUIT DIP

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in caramel topping until blended. Serve with fruit. Refrigerate leftovers.

CARAMEL-DIPPED LOCAL APPLES

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or wax paper. Place the ice pop sticks into the stem ends of the apples and place on the prepared baking sheet.
• In a heavy medium pot over medium heat, melt the butter and then stir in the brown sugar until completely combined. Whisk in the sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup, honey, cinnamon and salt until smooth.
• Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until the temperature registers 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and let the caramel cool for about 2 minutes.
• Holding an ice pop stick, carefully dip an apple in the caramel up to the stem, then roll in the desired toppings and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining apples. Chill the apples until the caramel and toppings are set, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

CARAMEL CHOCOLATE DIP

Steps:

• Heat caramels, chocolate and milk in a small heavy-duty saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cool and refrigerate.

CARAMEL DIPPED STRAWBERRIES

Steps:

• Melt caramels and cream in microwave.
• Dip strawberries in caramel.
• Roll in nuts before caramel sets.
• Keep in cool place (refrigerator) until ready to serve.

CARAMEL APPLE DIP

Steps:

• Beat cream cheese in small bowl with mixer until creamy.
• Add sugar and vanilla; mix well.
• Spoon into serving bowl.

THE BEST CARAMEL DIP

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
• Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk, stirring to combine.
• Stir constantly until mixture comes to a light bubbly boil, with just a few bubbles popping through the surface of the caramel (see notes for more details).
• Remove from heat right away and add the vanilla. Stir to combine.
• Serve warm or at room temperature with apple slices and pretzels, or drizzle over ice cream.

CARAMEL-DIPPED FRUIT

Steps:

• Place several pieces of newspaper or parchment paper on the floor under the working area - the edge of a counter or tabletop works well - to catch any excess caramel as it drips off the fruit. Have ready 24 two-inch pieces of masking tape and 24 six-inch wooden skewers.
• Insert each skewer perpendicularly into the bottoms of the fruit without going through the other side. Set the fruit aside.
• Dip the fruit into the caramel coating, and coat completely. Place the skewers on the edge of the counter or tabletop with the fruit stems pointed toward the floor. Using the masking tape, secure skewers. If coating segmented fruit, rest sections on an oiled wire rack set over a baking sheet. Let caramel drip onto the floor, forming tails; let the caramel set completely.
• Using scissors, cut the tails to the desired lengths; let cool completely. Just before serving, remove the skewers.

CARAMEL FRUIT DIP

Steps:

• In a small mixing bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until they are incorperated. Serve with fruit, Keep leftovers stored, covered in the fridge.

CARAMEL-DIPPED APPLES

Steps:

• Combine first 8 ingredients in heavy 2 1/2-quart saucepan (about 3 inches deep). Stir with wooden spatula or spoon over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves (no crystals are felt when caramel is rubbed between fingers), occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush, about 15 minutes.
• Attach clip-on candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat to medium-high; cook caramel at rolling boil until thermometer registers 236°F, stirring constantly but slowly with clean wooden spatula and occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush, about 12 minutes. Pour caramel into metal bowl (do not scrape pan). Submerge thermometer bulb in caramel; cool, without stirring, to 200°F, about 20 minutes.
• While caramel cools, line 2 baking sheets with foil; butter foil. Push 1 chopstick into stem end of each apple. Set up decorations and melted chocolates.
• Holding chopstick, dip 1 apple into 200°F caramel, submerging all but very top of apple. Lift apple out, allowing excess caramel to drip back into bowl. Turn apple caramel side up and hold for several seconds to help set caramel around apple. Place coated apple on prepared foil. Repeat with remaining apples and caramel, spacing apples apart (caramel will pool on foil). If caramel becomes too thick to dip into, add 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream and briefly whisk caramel in bowl over low heat to thin.
• Chill apples on sheets until caramel is partially set, about 15 minutes. Lift 1 apple from foil. Using hand, press pooled caramel around apple; return to foil. Repeat with remaining apples.
• Firmly press decorations into caramel; return each apple to foil. Or dip caramel-coated apples into melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off, then roll in nuts or candy. Or drizzle melted chocolate over caramel-coated apples and sprinkle with decorations. Chill until decorations are set, about 1 hour. Cover; chill up to 1 week.

CARAMEL-DIPPED FRUIT

Steps:

• Place the water, sugar, and corn syrup in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. The corn syrup will make the cooked sugar harder and crunchier; it will also help prevent the cooked sugar from melting as quickly when it reacts to the humidity in the air. Insert a candy thermometer and cook the sugar mixture to 311 degrees F (155 degrees C), what is known as the hard crack stage. Stir the sugar slowly as it cooks to ensure that it cooks evenly. If you do not stir it, the mixture will develop hot spots and the sugar will cook faster in those spots. Use a pastry brush to keep the inside of the saucepan clean as the sugar cooks, or the sugar may recrystallize. To do this, dip a clean brush in cold water and brush the inside of the pan clean.
• Remove the cooked sugar from the heat and pour it into a medium-size heatproof glass bowl. The glass bowl will hold the temperature and stop the cooking process. It will also allow you to reheat the sugar in the microwave if necessary. If you leave he sugar in the saucepan, the sugar will continue to cook and turn dark brown. Occasionally stir the hot sugar to keep it from darkening due to the residual heat. Stirring also helps to keep its temperature even. I put a towel under the bowl to keep it from tipping and to protect my hands from the heat of the glass.
• Peel, core or pit, and halve the fruit as necessary. Use a sharp knife to slice the fruit into small pieces. (This is not necessary for berries or grapes.) Arrange the fruit on toothpicks or small skewers in any combination you like. Leave enough room at one end of the toothpick or skewer so you will be able to hold it as you dip it in the hot sugar. Dip each toothpick in the hot sugar, coating the fruits completely. Wipe the toothpick against the rim of the bowl to remove any excess sugar and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Repeat until all of the fruit has been dipped. The fruit skewers should release easily from the parchment paper as soon as they cool. You can arrange them on a plate or use your imagination to make a fruit skewer centerpiece.