Candy apple

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Candy/Toffee apple
Candyapple.jpg
Origin
Alternative name(s) Toffee apple
Place of origin United States
Creator(s) William W. Kolb
Details
Type Confectionery
Main ingredient(s) Apples, toffee or sugar candy

Candy apples, also known as toffee apples outside of North America, are whole apples covered in a hard toffee or sugar candy coating, with a stick inserted as a handle. These are a common treat at autumn festivals in Western culture in the Northern Hemisphere, such as Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night because these festivals fall in the wake of the annual apple harvest.[1] Although candy apples and caramel apples may seem similar, they are made using distinctly different processes.

History

According to one source, American 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]

Ingredients and method

Candy apples are made by coating an apple with a layer of sugar that has been heated to a soft or hard crack stage (depending upon the type of sugar).[3][unreliable source?] The most common sugar coating is made from sugar (white or brown), corn syrup, water, cinnamon and red food coloring. Humid weather can prevent the sugar from hardening.[4]

Regional traditions

Cultural references

Pommes d'amour on display

Books

Many children's books have taken toffee apples as their theme.[7]

Urban myths

During the 1960s and 1970s, news reports about children supposedly receiving candy apples with pins and razor blades in them, created hysteria during Halloween in the United States. During the hysteria, hospitals offered free x-rays to detect foreign objects in the candy apples. To date, the stories have never been substantiated and fall into the category of urban legend.[8]

See also

References

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  2. Newark Sunday News, November 28, 1948, pg.16. Newark Evening News, June 8, 1964, pg. 32
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