Wonderfully Wicked Treats

Today, two of my friends; Peggy and Ann came by to make some Halloween treats.
First we made Licorice Caramels:
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk                
1 1/2 c. corn syrup                             2 tsp. anise oil, we liked 1 1/2 tsp.
1 cup butter                                         1 tsp. black paste food coloring
2 cups sugar                                         1/4 tsp. salt
Butter an 8-inch square baking pan; set aside.  In a heavy 4-qt. saucepan combine condensed milk, corn syrup, butter, sugar and salt. Place over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed.  If sugar crystals are present, wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush. Cook, stirring constantly to 242 F (120C) We found this to make the caramels too hard.  we cooked them to 230 degrees.  So soft and chewy.  Remove from heat and stir in flavoring and food color; blend well.  Without scraping, pour into prepared pan.  Allow to stand at room temp overnight.  Cut into 1-inch squares.  Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap.

Here I am stirring the black paste food coloring in.  Thought I would use a B&W photo to get you in the Halloween mood.

I am not a black licorice lover.  But these are to DIE for!  That’s why we liked a bit less flavoring.  That way you could taste a little more of the caramel.

This is my friend, Ann pouring it into the square pan.

Remember how it said not to scrape the pan?  Do you think we were going to let that go to waste?  Yes, it will go to my waist!
We scraped it onto a plate so we could sample.  It was wicked good!

My friend Peggy is a gourmet candy maker.  Seriously, she makes dipped chocolates that would even make Mrs. Cavanaugh  jealous.  She came along to coach us. She had just made goodies for her daughters wedding last week.  There were  jars filled with decadent wonders.
You might remember, Peg is the one that I named my hairy tailed rat after.
Notice our black teeth?  Is that Halloweeny or what?

Then we made Caramel Apple Bites.  Simply buy a brick of caramel, dried apples ( ours were Nutty Guys), white chocolate or Almond Bark, cinnamon and sugar.

See that big block of caramel?  It’s real caramel, Peggy kept reminding us that it was. 
Me and caramel, that’s a dangerous combination. They’re lucky I didn’t just climb into the pantry, shut the door, and chow down on that entire block.
Now to continue, you cut the apple rings in half, cut off a chunk of caramel and mold it around the apple.  Not completely covering it, just on one end.  Melt the choc. in the microwave at 50% power. One minute at a time till melted.  dip caramel wrapped apples.  Lay out on parchment or wax paper.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  You can dip a few at a time and then sprinkle.
These may not look it, but they are so YUM-O!  This is a term my youngest daughter always says.  I’ve never asked her, but I think it’s because when you taste something delicious you say YUM and then OH or Oh YUM!  Either one works.

We think that they look a bit like little scorpions.  Don’t let their looks fool you.  They are delicious!

Ending with another B&W.  Can’t wait to wrap my caramels in the morning!

Have a hauntingly good day!
  Jann
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Miss Jenny for Anything Autumn