Ok, so... these are alcoholic which means I shouldn't complain about what it took to make them. I should've just swigged as I worked like any normal critical blogger would do!
Alright... since I only have one picture of what these things look like, I'm stealing a photo of what they SHOULD look like. Below, find the photo-shopped picture of someone's results (I could be wrong, lol. Their's could have really looked like this, but I would have had to photo shop them so I maintain that this person did too!)
Alright, so the ingredients consisted of
granny smith apples
knox gelatin
water
coconut milk
yellow food coloring
caramel hot chocolate (regular will do if you can't find caramel)
sugar
lemon juice (I'd recommend buying lemons)
AND THE BEST PART
butterscotch schnapps (if you want more alcohol content you can try a caramel vodka)
I did get a picture of the ingredients though!!!
So you start by hollowing the apples. You cut them in half from the stem down and hollow those suckers. The original poster says she used a melon baller, because every home has one of those.... Well... I had no melon baller. I know, WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!!?!?!? I do own one now though, bought immediately after this....... experiment. Moving on. I used a spoon. Clearly I see why the melon baller is better. It's has a thinner but durable wall which will cut into the apple better. The spoon is rather dull so yea, didn't work so well. I had apples torn all over the place but I wasn't about to throw those bad boys away!
You then you squeeze lemon juice on top to reduce browning. I didn't buy lemons (because the recipe simply states lemon juice). I guess any normal super mom/wife/party guru would know to buy lemons, not juice! I bought a bottle of lemon juice. Kind of hard to squeeze lemon juice out of a huge gaping hole in the top of a bottle. So... I poured some lemon juice in a bowl and rolled the pieces of apple around in the juice. It affected the flavor so I'll be using real lemons next time. After this, I'd recommend keeping the hollowed apples in a sealed container in the fridge. This will also reduce the browning.
Next, you mix 1/2 cup water with an envelope of the caramel hot chocolate in a sauce pan. Whisk that sucker good to be sure all the hot chocolate is combined. Add in 1/2 cup of coconut milk and whisk again! You didn't do it right if your elbow doesn't hurt.
You then sprinkle your gelatin on top and let sit for a few minutes. Notice the funny change. It begins to look slimey! After ogling over the funky reaction, turn the heat on low/medium and mix the gelatin until it’s all combined.
Add in ¼ cup sugar and simmer until the sugar is combined, BUT ONLY SLIGHTLY! Have you ever burned sugar? Don’t. I wouldn’t recommend it. Plus you have to start over. It’s a good thing I always buy double or triple of the recipe ingredients or else I’d have been screwed… I mean, sugar is a household ingredient but who the hell has knox gelatin and caramel hot chocolate just lying around? Oh wait, those perfect housewives do!
Anyway, after you add in the sugar, add in food coloring to get the color caramel you want. I used 4 and it was slightly too yellow. The original poster used two, so it’s all about your preference. After that’s done, let the mixture sit and cool down some to warm. Then add in ½ cup butterscotch schnapps or caramel vodka, whichever you chose. I used butterscotch schnapps. Next time I think I might try the caramel vodka. I bought both! Like I said, maybe I should’ve just chugged while I worked.
After arranging your apples in a container if you haven’t already (mine were arranged and in the refrigerator). Pour the caramel jello mixture into the apples and refrigerate overnight. This obviously sets up your jello and they’re best served cold anyway! I mean, they’re apples for crying out loud!
After they’ve been chilled, cut them in half, then cut those pieces in half again. I’d recommend a SHARP knife as a semi-dull one would totally screw up what you’ve done. If they’re browned, either trim off the brown area or toss those apples, but if you haven’t done a LOT, then well, you’re throwing away your product and alcohol! NOOOOOOO!
So… things I’d change would be how I hollowed the apples. As stated before, I’m not the proud owner of a melon baller. I will also buy actual lemons instead of lemon juice. I’m also going to try the vodka instead of schnapps. I might give these a go again for our New Year’s get together. Our group tends to just drink and forget the fruit, so…. I might not! I do see Jello shots in the future though.
I also failed to mention that this batch will fill about 10 whole apples (or 20 apple halves). So clearly if you need more you’d need to double up.
You’ll notice in the picture below that I have a MESS! I did mention somewhere up there that I had a lot of torn apples but that I wasn’t going to throw them away. I don’t throw perfectly good food away because it’s slightly flawed. It just turned out a little messy! According to my friends they were good, and most were eaten, but as also stated before, we kind of just swigged all night so we forgot about them later on!
Good luck to those who read this and give it a try!
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