Caramel apples are popular for about one month during the calendar year. October 31st just happens to be National Caramel Apple Day. Did you know it was invented by Dan Walker in the 1950s? It gets better. He was an employee at Kraft at the time. He basically is the genius that came up with this alternative to the traditional red candy apple. That’s what I call working overtime for a good cause. But I’m wondering if they paid the guy anything extra or if the company kept the idea and the credit?
Caramel Apples vs. Candy Apples
It seems that the debate over pumpkin and sweet potato pie is not the only one worth having. I can almost hear you thinking, “What debate?” There are some die hard traditionalists that swear by the classic candy apple versus the caramel apple. Our third grade Halloween party featured candied apples. I bit down hard on mine. As a result, I lost a tooth from biting into one of those rock hard cherry red apples. Despite the toothache, that didn’t stop me at all. It didn’t matter that the sticky, gooey pieces pierced through my gums. What mattered was that it was all mine and I was determined to enjoy it.
Similarly, in seventh grade, I discovered the caramel apple and never looked back. I am a huge fan of caramel. Wrapped around chocolate or oozing on top of ice cream. It is still, the one sugar fix that will get me every time. I am not advocating for sugar. It is surely on my no bueno list of foods since I am always fighting inflammation. Sugar can cause lots of inflammation in the body. Inflammation can cause lots of pain. I am feeling better these days but I have to be mindful of how much sugar I have. So why the breakdown in the keep away from sugar rule? Because that’s how it goes sometimes. Nostalgia is a strong force and whenever fall arrives, it finds me going down the apple aisle and into a recipe for caramel apples.