Making Green Apple and Caramel Chocolates!

All this week we've been making Caramel Apple Cupcakes. The final touch to finish off these decadent cakes are Green Apple Caramel filled Chocolates. The chocolates add a little finesse and a lot of indulgence.  Easier to make then I had anticipated, these were fun to create and experiment with.  My mind is already racing with all the new chocolate truffle candies to add to upcoming cakes or just to my own stash of sweets!

This is the last post to the three part series:

Part One: Making Wonderful Homemade Caramel

Part Two: Making Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Part Three: Making Green Apple & Caramel Filled Chocolates!

(Miss any steps?? Click the links above to revisit)

I purchased a Wilton candy mold for about $1 at a local craft store. 

 The classic round truffle shape was the closest to an apple I could find.

 Once nestled in frosting the half round shape gives the illusion of a whole tiny apple peaking out.

I used Candy Melts for the chocolate.  The melts, as I'll refer to them, come in various brands and a range of colors.  The melts takes the guess work out making candy chocolates.  They are already colored, no need for tempering, and can be melted and re-melted just about as many times as necessary.

The melts are more of a white chocolate, which really isn't chocolate at all, but the taste is good and again very easy to use!

Start by melting some colors; light green, and dark green. Here I had white too but found it wasn't  necessary for the apples. 

Paint the dark green very spottily on the inside of the round molds.  Leave lots of room for the light green to show through.  The melts set up (hardens) quickly, about 3-5 minutes at room temperature or 1 minute in the fridge. I threw them in the freezer to speed it up even more. 

Once the dark green is set up paint over it with lots of light green.  This color needs to cover all the inside of the mold to hold the filling in.  

The warmer light green chocolate melted some of  dark green already in the molds making for some very nice swirls on the finished candies.

Give it another minute or to to harden the do a double check to make sure whole interior is coated evenly. The coating should be a medium thickness. Thin enough so  the filling has room to go in, but thick enough that it the finished candies won't  be too fragile when unmolded.

 Fill with more of your delectable homemade caramel sauce, or another caramel topping of your choice.

Fill the molds about 2/3 of the way. Leave a little room to cover the caramel with a chocolate base. I found this step was easiest when I used a piping bag.  Also make sure the filling is NOT hot, or you'll end up with leaky candy.

Opps! Forgot one step! Before I added the caramel I mixed in about 5 drops of an oil-based Apple candy flavoring into the caramel.  Any flavor can be added in and however strong or light you'd like it to be.  Get creative, just taste along the way to make sure your not overdoing the flavors!

Lastly cover the botom with more light green chocolate. Tap the candies lightly against the counter to make sure all the air bubbles escape before hardening. If needed use a small icing spatula to even out the bottom and scrape away any excess chocolate.

 Leave to set at room temperature about 30 minutes, just to make sure the shell is nice and hard.

Gently turn over and tap against the counter and your perfectly homemade candies should release themselves! Mmm enjoy as is, but also save some for your cupcakes.  To really give the apple impression I piped a little of dark chocolate into stems and green melts into leaves, l et the stems and leaves harden then attached them to the candies with a little extra green melts.

Green Apple & Caramel Filled Chocolates! Printer Friendly Recipe Here!

Green Apple & Caramel Filled Chocolates
Makes 14 chocolates
Prep Time: 1 hour  Total Time: 1 1/2 hours


Ingredients:

10 oz  Light Green Candy Wafers
6 oz   Dark Green Candy Wafers
5-6 drops Apple Candy Flavoring
1/2 cup Thick Caramel Sauce  LaLa Cake Recipe Here!

Preparation:

1.  If necessary warm the caramel sauce slightly
to make stirring consistency.
2.  Mix caramel with candy flavoring, stirring well.
Taste and add more if desired.
3.  Melt the candy wafers according to the instructions on the package.
4. Using a round candy mold tray (or another shape if not making apples),

paint the inside with the dark green candy coating. 

Only cover the mold partially with the dark green coating, 

so the light green coating will also show through.
5.  Place in refrigerator or allow to set up
at room temperature until hardened.  

Once set, paint the light green coating over the dark green coating. 

Cover the mold completely with light green so the caramel

 filling will not leak out.  Again allow the coating to harden. 

Coatings will harden quickly; about 5 minutes.
6.  Once set pipe caramel filling into each mold, 

filling about 3/4 of the way. Pipe remaining light green candy coating 

over the caramel filling making sure to seal the caramel in.  

Scrape any overflowing coating away from
candy molds with a icing spatula. Allow chocolates to set
up for 30 minutes before trying to unmold.

7.  If making into apples, pipe a small amount of chocolate into stems and

 a small amount of dark green candy coating into a leaf shape. 

Attach the stem and leaf to the rounded side of the chocolates with

a little more melted chocolate.
8. Let sit for another 10 minutes before enjoying!