Harvest Time Raw Caramel Apples

So, let’s get it straight: this whole idea emerged as a healthy treat for Halloween. Raw Caramel Apples. We’re always trying to think of ways to make all those old, comfortable, non-raw, non-vegan recipes into something we can eat now. Face it: it’s become our life mission. It’s like, whatever recipe we come across that sounds good, we first ask, “Is it raw?”. If the answer to that question is no -as it most often is – secondly we’ll ask, “Can we make it raw?” Honestly, you can’t imagine how often those questions get asked around here. It’s like a broken record.

Ultimately, when it comes to making things raw, I think of us like the Little Engines that Could. I think I can, I think I can. Most of the time, we actually can. Sometimes we’re not so lucky.

And sometimes we can do it but we just don’t want to. This might have been one of those times.

As Halloween loomed, a chile harvest and hemp harvest came between me and my raw caramel apples. There was, virtually, no time to be creative. So I started looking elsewhere for inspiration, piecing together bits of raw recipes from wherever I found them. After all, we couldn’t dissappoint the children. I promised. As it was, I was giving instruction while stringing dried red chilies and the kids made this kind of, sort of by themselves. Up to a point.

Making the cashew butter was simple. We did it from scratch and it came out perfectly too. But when we started adding the maple syrup to make it more caramel-y, instead of getting easier to work with, it got harder. It became like a fondant. Not sticky, really. Dry but bendy. Certainly not what anyone expected. This is when the troops called me in. A fondant is like a virtual ‘sheet’ of icing that you mold over a cake. When you do it right, it’s super smooth and beautiful – but to actually do it right has to be one of the most agravating activities known to man. I made a birthday cake for my daughter many years ago using a fondant and vowed never to do such a thing again.

But here I was, called to the kitchen, to mold cashew caramel around these apples. Deja vu struck me like lightening. I had to take a deep breath and remind myself again: you promised. But what I really wanted to do is throw the apples, the caramel, the sticks and all in the compost and let the worms enjoy their own Halloween.

Later Melissa would tell me that you used to be able to buy caramel sheets in the store to wrap around apples. Of course these would have been a sugary, tooth rotting mess but somehow, knowing this allowed the whole experience to , at least, make some kind of sense – even if it was little consolation.

A word: the apples need to be completely dry for the fondant -oops – caramel to stick. I tried. I really did. But I can’t claim to getting them perfect. Sometimes it seemed like there were actual air pockets between the caramel and the apple. I kept trying to get them out but then the apple felt like it would slide right out too. I tried pressing nuts and dried fruit into the caramel. Would it stick? No.

So. instead, I disguised any imperfections with chocolate. Which is, essentially, ‘make-up’ for apples. When I started dribbling chocolate all over the apples, the kids got very excited… it was like a bonus for them and everyone wanted to join in. The nuts actually stuck to the chocalatey parts of the apples and dried fruit stuck in there too. In the end, the kids thought those raw caramel apples looked amazing.

Me, not so much. I was actually kind of mad at them. The apples; not the children. And forget about the caramel. The caramel was my nemesis from the very beginning.

When Melissa asked me how it went with the raw caramel apples, I went on a tirade. She kept saying, “Maybe we could do this…” and “Maybe we could do that…” I just glared at her. I wasn’t going into that arena for a rematch, for sure. Then, it dawned on me. I hadn’t even tasted them. I refused.

Well, the next day was Halloween and every kid got an apple. The final verdict: Delicious. I couldn’t hear myself think with all the lip-smacking around here. But I was still dubious. After all, these are just kids, not gourmets. One of them offered me a slice, putting it on a tiny saucer, just for me. And yes, I finally broke down and tried it. So I can, certifiably, attest to the fact that it was very good. I’m glad; I really am.

But I’m never making those raw caramel apples ever again.

Remind me of that next year.

RAW VEGAN RECIPE: Harvest Time Raw Caramel Apples

4 apples

4 sticks

cacao nibs, cinammon, chopped dried orange, chopped pecans (or nuts of choice) as garnish

FOR THE CARAMEL:

1 cup cashew butter

2 dates, soaked for 2 hours

1/2 cup maple syrup or more if needed

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch salt

Combine raw cashew butter, dates, maple syrup, vanilla and salt in food processor and process till well combined and smooth. If caramel seems to be too thick, add a little more maple syrup and continue to do so until the consistency is as desired. Caramel will be kind of elastic but not really sticky.

Cover your apple with the caramel mixture. Apples will need to be dry so caramel will adhere. Press caramel onto apple then put apple top down onto a plate and insert stick into the bottom.

Get ready to cover your raw caramel apples with chocolate.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE:

1 cup cacao powder

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cashew milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch salt

Blend all ingredients together till smooth. Dribble by spoonfull over apples.

Sprinkle chocolate with cinammon and chopped pecans or walnuts. Alternately use chopped, dried orange rind mixed with cinammon and pecans. Raw cacao nibs are also a wonderful addition. My personal opinion is that the cinammon makes everything tastier.

Your raw cinammon apples are done! You can pop them in the freezer for no more than half an hour before eating. I didn’t do this and the chocolate was quickly hard enough not to melt all over the place… but my house can be a little cold so… it’s up to you!