Chocolate apples are a delicious snack that lends itself to a variety of occasions. You can prepare them for a quick snack for the children or cover them with high quality chocolate and serve them as a dessert at a dinner with friends. They are delicious both when using whole and sliced apples.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Apple Slices Sprinkled with Chocolate
Step 1. Mix the dry ingredients together
In a bowl, combine 150 g of sugar with 20 g of 00 flour and 100 g of unsweetened cocoa. Mix them with a fork or whisk to mix them evenly and remove any lumps.
Step 2. Mix the wet ingredients for the chocolate sauce on the stove
Put a saucepan over medium heat and add 300 ml of milk, 30 g of butter and 8 ml of vanilla extract. Mix everything until the butter has melted completely.
Add more vanilla extract if you love strong flavors, but don't overdo it
Step 3. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients
If you try to pour them all into the saucepan at once, you will get a floury mass. Instead, add them a little at a time, mixing them with a whisk to prevent lumps.
Step 4. Turn up the heat and simmer the sauce
Keep stirring to prevent it from burning with the stronger heat. After about 5-6 minutes, turn off the stove and add a pinch of salt to make the flavor more complex.
Step 5. Break the candy sticks until they are powdered
To achieve this you can follow several methods, choose the most comfortable one you have available.
- The most obvious technique is to rely on a pestle and mortar. Break the candies into smaller, more manageable pieces, adding a few at a time to the mortar. With the pestle grind them and break them until they become a powder or microscopic splinters, according to your taste.
- You can use a hammer or a meat mallet. Place the candies in a sealable plastic bag, first break them into smaller portions if necessary. Place the bag on a stable surface and hit the candies with the hammer or meat mallet until you get the desired consistency.
- Use the tools available in the kitchen, be creative but cautious.
Step 6. Peel the apples and remove the cores
You can use a peeler to remove the peel, but be careful not to cut yourself. Place an apple vertically and with the help of a sharp knife cut the edges of the core to remove the inedible part of the fruit. Slice the rest of the fruit according to your needs.
Step 7. Cover the apple slices with the chocolate sauce and shredded candies
Arrange the fruit on a large plate or aluminum foil if you want to avoid using too many plates. You can decorate the apple slices as you like, here are some ideas:
- Dip the whole slice in the chocolate sauce or only half of it.
- Use a spoon to sprinkle the slices with the sauce. Quickly move the spoon back and forth letting the chocolate run over the fruit.
- Decorate the slices with the crumbled candies, letting the sauce work as a sticker.
- Provide a bowl of chocolate sauce and a bowl of shredded mint candy and let the guests decide how to garnish their apples.
- Put the apples in the refrigerator before serving to allow the sauce to harden a bit, many people prefer them that way.
Method 2 of 2: Whole Apples Covered in Chocolate and Skewered on a Stick
Step 1. Wash and dry the apples
You can use whichever variety you like, but the sour taste of Granny Smiths goes perfectly with the sweetness of chocolate. Remove the manufacturer's adhesive, if any, and then rinse the fruit under running water to eliminate the chemicals and germs present on the peel; finally dry it with a clean cloth.
Step 2. Insert a wooden skewer into the core of each apple
This way, once they are dipped in chocolate, you can eat them as if they were a lollipop. You will need to apply some pressure to be able to insert the stick.
Step 3. Chop 480g of chocolate
If you can get hold of the good quality industrial grade one that comes in small diskettes, then you can skip this step. However, if you got the classic tablet, you will need to break it first. If the tablet is already preformed to break along certain lines, follow them to make the process easier. If, on the other hand, the chocolate is a single, solid piece, then use a sharp knife to reduce it into very small squares.
- If the predefined pieces of the chocolate bar are too large, cut them further with the knife.
- The smaller the fragments are, the faster they will melt creating the sauce.
Step 4. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler
If you try to melt it with direct heat too quickly, you risk burning it and ruining the sauce. To prevent this from happening, use two saucepans with the bain marie technique to gently heat the chocolate with the steam evenly. To do this, take a large pot that a second, smaller pan fits into but doesn't touch the bottom of the first. You will also need a spoon to mix.
- Add a little water to the large pot, making sure it does not touch the bottom of the small pan.
- Put the pot with the water and the saucepan inside it on the stove over medium-low heat.
- Add the chocolate to the saucepan.
- As the water turns into steam and this rises to the saucepan, the chocolate slowly melts.
- Stir to speed up the process and get an even consistency.
- When all the chocolate has melted, turn off the heat.
Step 5. Dip the apples in the chocolate
Grab them one at a time by the skewer and dip them in the chocolate contained in the saucepan. Twist them slightly to make sure they are completely covered.
Step 6. Decorate the fruit
If you want to add another topping to the apples, do it immediately, when the chocolate is still moist. You can sprinkle the surface of the fruit with whatever your imagination suggests. The most common ingredients include chopped hazelnuts, chocolate sprinkles and chopped candy sticks. Dip the apples in a bowl that contains the ingredients you have chosen or sprinkle them from above.
Step 7. Place the apples on wax paper and place them in the refrigerator
Line a baking sheet with paper and then spread the apples upside down on it. The stick must be facing up. Place the pan in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes and wait for the chocolate to solidify, then serve the apples!
