Dear future husband (currently Mr Unknown),

We’re going to need two kitchens. Just saying.

It’s not just for me, it’s for your sake too. And our relationship.

If I’m making hard candy like these apples, a serious nitty gritty process of watching the temperature, and you come in wanting to make a sandwich/coffee/ anything and push bowls aside? I’ll snap. This has been tried and tested by family already….
and continues to be tried and tested for some reason… hmm.
I digress.

And while we’re talking kitchens, that way if I bring in a shopping bag, or two (which I will), full of cake pans (and they’ll all look the same to you, I’m sure. Yes, I need it. No, it’s not the same as the others.) you won’t have to groan and argue about where they’re going to fit. Logical, really.

We’ll talk about my shoes another time.

Much love in the future,

        – me.

PS. A converted garage works well.

Now, back to apples. What you’re looking at is a Snow White Poisoned Apple Candy Glass perfect for cocktails… that is until it melts (30 minutes- 1hr).

But by that time, if your cocktail’s still there? You’re drinking too slow.

The process goes something like this.

Make an apple mold.

This consists of buying a perfectly shaped fake apple (dollar store) and Silicone Plastique putty (Amazon) and following the instructions to make a food grade mold of that apple. Note- when you cut the mold, cut it horizontal near the top (think of it as making a cup and a lid). This will save you endless (36) hours of trying to make two halves fit, each attempt ending in pure failure. (doh. It made sense at the time… )

As per instructions, leave for 24 hours to cure.

Next, boil up the hard candy to fill the mold (based on recipe from about.com)

You’ll need:

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup (glucose syrup)
1/8 cup water
red food colouring
extract if you want it to have a flavour
candy thermometer

In a small saucepan, add in all ingredients over medium-high heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Insert candy thermometer and let it boil (do not stir) until the thermometer reads 146oC (295oF).

Remove from heat and let it sit until bubbling has stopped completely.

Pour or spoon the candy into the apple molds and swirl the candy to coat the mold completely. I’d recommend wearing gloves incase the mold gets too hot (it can handle the heat, your fingers are another matter).

Let the molds cool and harden completely.

 Peel back the mold from the candy (no, it won’t stick)

 If it’s too sticky, you can dust it with gf cornflour and wipe excess off.

Decorate

For an ice cream bowl (like the very first picture) you can make a chocolate stem and attach a mint leave for decor.

For a cocktail glass, using a small sharp knife, you can poke out a hole in the top for a small cinnamon stick or black straw to go through. Attach a mint leave for decor using melted chocolate.

Use chocolate to secure either the straw or cinnamon stick.

Finally, fill ‘er up.

I’m a huge fan of cider (serve chilled. Hot anything will melt the apple glass in a minute). The BFG recommends Scrumpy cider, since it has higher alcohol content and ‘harder’ taste, making it more sinister.

Cider also works well with a variety of other juices or alcohols, including rum, vermouth, or lager.