DIY Halloween Mickey Apples: Deliciously Scary Fun
Fall officially begins this week. The leaves are starting to turn. Apples and pumpkins are quietly taking over the produce sections. Costume discussions have begun. And the Disney Parks Blog is sharing how-to videos of fabulous fall treats like DIY Halloween Mickey Apples.
Photo from Disney Parks Blog
Okay, so maybe that last one isn’t quite a significant seasonal milestone like the others, but it’s a fun one nevertheless. Did you notice the apples were decorated like Mickey ghosts?
After watching Disney’s video on how to make these Mickey treats, I thought I’d give it a try. What better way to jump-start the fall season than a batch of caramel apples? Add some Disney flair and I’m halfway to the grocery store for supplies.
Once I got to work on the apples I quickly realized the Disney video makes some of the steps look easier than they really are. (Magic!) In fact, there were a few moments during my caramel apple adventure that were fairly frightening. Rather than scrapping the whole idea though, I thought I’d share my mistakes. Maybe it will help you make Halloween Mickey Apples that are way better then mine. Or maybe, it will just give you a laugh. Perhaps even serve as a warning? It is Halloween season after all. Can’t be too careful.
Here’s what you’ll need:
INGREDIENTS
Five Granny Smith apples, 1 bag of white chocolate chips, 1 bag of caramel soft candy, 1 bag of dark chocolate chips, 1 bag large marshmallows and 1 bag of white sticks for handles
DIRECTIONS (WITH HALLOWEEN WARNINGS IN PARENTHESES!)
(1) First, wash and dry the apples. Then flip each apple upside down and insert a stick into its center. You can push the sticks in by hand or gently tap them with a meat tenderizer.
(2) Next, unwrap the caramels and place them in a pan with two tablespoons of water. Continuously stir the caramels on low heat until smooth. (First warning: The pan should be deep enough to submerge the apples!)
(3) Next, dip each apple into the caramel sauce to cover most of the green. You only need a thin layer. Place the apples on a sturdy cookie sheet covered with wax paper. (My caramel was took thick and it took forever to harden!)
(4) Move the apples to the refrigerator and let them set for a few hours. (Ninety minutes isn’t long enough if your caramel coating is thick! Trust me. Sliding, sticky messiness. Boo!)
(5) Next, add the Mickey ears! For each apple, find two marshmallows that are roughly the same size. Turn each marshmallow horizontal with the round side facing you and trim off about one-fourth. Finally, place the marshmallows on the top of each apple.
(6) Melt the white chocolate chips in a pan on low heat. Try to use a pan that is deep enough to submerge the apples. (Mine wasn’t and it was difficult to spin the apples to coat them evenly, since they are non-symmetric and weighed down by the caramel. My sticks were bending and spinning without moving the apples!)
(7) Coat each apple with white chocolate and return it to the wax-paper covered cookie sheet. It’s okay if some of the chocolate slides down the apple because it will look more like a ghost. (This was the point where my adventure turned frightful. The pan wasn’t deep enough to cover the marshmallow ears without them falling off, so I only covered the caramel. I also made the mistake of setting one of the caramel apples on the counter, instead of the wax paper, where it proceeded to stick and slide and pull off the apple when I lifted it. You’ve been warned!)
(8) After the apples are coated with chocolate, place them back in the refrigerator to let the chocolate set. (I left mine for a full day, partly because I had too and partly because I was afraid to proceed. An hour is probably sufficient.)
(9) Next, melt one cup of the dark chocolate chips on the stove or in the microwave at half-power. Once the chocolate melts, let it cool slightly before decorating.
(10) Draw Mickey’s face on each apple with the chocolate. (I don’t have one of those nifty candy writing tools like they used in the Disney video, so I used a plastic spoon to create the long ovals for the eyes and nose. For the thinner lines of the mouth, I used a plastic bag with the tip cut off. You can see where the ears would look better if they were covered in chocolate.)
And that’s it. Ten steps to creating Halloween Mickey Apples similar to the ones in the Disney parks. (With Halloween warnings in parentheses!) Sure, the apples aren’t perfect, but the journey was very entertaining. The caramel made my home smell wonderful and helped me happily transition into the fall season. It also made me want to watch The Adventures of Ichabod Crane again.
If apple-shaped cookies are more your thing, check out my post on Evil Queen-inspired treats here.
Thanks for stopping by!
Add a little (caramel-coated) magic to your world!
