Apples are at their very best in early autumn and the good old fashioned toffee apple is the perfect bonfire night sweet-on-a-stick treat. If you can’t lay your hands on wooden lollipop sticks then simply use dessert forks and make sure they don’t end up on the fire when the kids have finished. If you don’t have an allergy, some crushed nuts added to the toffee make for a praline toffee apple - use whatever nut you prefer (for me it’s almond every time).

Ingredients

small Cox apples
wooden sticks or small forks
400g sugar
200ml water
50g chopped nuts (optional)

Method

Cover a tray with baking parchment or greaseproof paper and spear the apples onto sticks or forks ready to be toffeed.

Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved (no need to stir, swirling the pan occasionally will suffice). Now raise the heat and watch carefully. The syrup will eventually start to bubble - slowly - and this indicates that it is reaching a temperature where it will begin to caramelise. Again swirl it gently and when it turns to golden brown it’s time to add the chopped nuts -if you want to - and to dip the apples. Warning - leave a moment too long and it will darken and be bitter. Tilt the pan and twirl the apples, one at a time, in the toffee then stand on their heads on the parchment to set. Eat soon!