Candy apple

A candy apple

Candy apples, also known as toffee apples, are whole apples covered in a hard sugar candy coating. While the topping varies from place to place, they are almost always served with a stick of sorts in the middle making them easier to eat. Candy apples are a common treat at autumn festivals in Western culture in the Northern Hemisphere, such as Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest.^[1]

In the United States, candy apples are most commonly eaten during Fall. In Latin American countries, candy apples are popular throughout those countries' extended holiday season. Caramel apples are more popular in much of the United States, with candy apples unknown in some regions. In Germany they are most often associated with the Christmas season. They are also sometimes sold at carnivals and fairs. In China, a similar treat called Tanghulu is made by coating small fruits (traditionally hawthorns) with hard sugar syrup.

The most common "candy" is a hard coating of cooled sugar syrup, usually tinted red and sometimes flavored with cinnamon. The sugar syrup is heated to the "hard crack" stage before coating the apple to make a hard coating when the syrup cools. Other variations include caramel or taffy apples, and chocolate apples.

According to the Newark Evening News 1964:

William W. Kolb invented the red candy apple. Kolb, a veteran Newark candy-maker, produced his first batch of candied apples in 1908. While experimenting in his candy shop with red cinnamon candy for the Christmas trade, he dipped some apples into the mixture and put them in the windows for display. He sold the whole first batch for 5 cents each and later sold thousands yearly. Soon candied apples were being sold along the Jersey Shore, at the circus and in candy shops across the country, according to the Newark News in 1948.

^[2]

See also

• Tang hu lu

References

1. ^ Apples galore as event grows, thisissouthdevon.co.uk, October 9, 2008, accessed 20 October 2008
2. ^ Newark Sunday News, November 28, 1948, pg.16. Newark Evening News, June 8, 1964, pg. 32

External links

• Recipes: [1]
• Pins and Needles in Halloween Candy, Snopes.com Urban Legends Reference Pages