Pinterest is a trap. It lures in un-crafty people with pictures of miniature whoopie pies and then crushes their hopes when they come out looking like cat turds.
Sorry for the graphic imagery but Pinterest got me again. My company held a fall themed cook-off. Two of the judging categories were appearance and fall-ness so obviously I thought Pinterest’s plethora of sickeningly cutesy foods would deliver me a winning dish.
I settled for mini caramel apples. I trekked to my local ACME, purchased 6 apples, a bag of Popsicle sticks, caramel sauce, and sprinkles. Then proceed to spend the next two hours cursing Pinterest and eating lukewarm caramel sauce. Here’s my Pinterest failure.
Miniature Caramel Apples
Ingredients: (Makes 50)
- 6 Granny Smith apples
- 2 jars of microwaveable caramel dip
- 1 bag of Popsicle or cake pop sticks
- Mini cupcake tins
- Orange and black sprinkles
Step 1: Use a melon baller to scoop out little apple balls from a larger whole apple
Step 2: Push sticks into top (skin side) of apple balls and dip into caramel sauce
Step 4: Decorate with sprinkles and place caramel side down in cupcake tins
In theory, this sounds like a simple recipe. In actuality, caramel does not stick the the inside of apple. The juice interacts with caramels sauce and sends it pooling at the bottom of the cupcake tins.
In a last ditch effort to save them, I flipped the apples over but the caramel still slid down. There was no salvaging, leaving me without a cook-off entry and boycotting Pinterest.
Anyone have any luck with a similar project? What did I do wrong? Better yet, any other famous Pinterest fails? Let me know so I don’t feel like such a loser.
I always appreciate the Pinterest fails that save me time and pride, so thanks for sharing and I’m sorry for your miss-adventure. I found out the hard way too many times to test before presenting to guests so I truly sympathize!
I’m always willing to share my bad an good kitchen adventures. You can learn just as much from the failures as the successes. Thanks for reading!
Reblogged this on mikesmarinemom and commented:
I can truly sympathize as I’ve learned many times the hard way to test before presenting to guests or family! Here’s one I know not to try and I hope it helps others to save time and headache.
I can see where humidity could have a huge influence on this project. If you’re ever inclined to try again, I would suggest making your own caramel sauce – cooked a little longer than if you were just going to pour it over ice cream so it’ll set up better. Or, if sticking with the store bought, heat it up a little bit longer? Caramel is a tricky thing once the cream is added to it… I’ve been batting about 33/67 in getting mine to turn out perfectly – thought it always tastes good!
And possibly if you can find tiny apples? I found some in a fancy grocery store (they were ADORABLE and tasty!), but I’m not sure if the caramel will stick better to the skin rather than the apple flesh?
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog – and allowing me to discover yours!
Thanks! Those are all great ideas! I would love to try and find tiny apples! I think that would have completely changed my Pinterest experience. Thanks for your advice! I’ll be sure to let you know if I try it again.
Happy to be of any assistance – have fun!
I pinned the recipe that used grapes and dipped them in a jarred caramel ice cream topping, then dipped them in crushed peanuts. They worked great! And they tasted almost like a caramel apple. The kids went wild and ate tons of them.
Just make sure they’re dry and not freshly rinsed. The caramel stuck well then. I used red grapes, either red or green would look cute.
That’s a great tip! I wish I stumbled across your recipe on Pinterest. I’ll try it out and let you know how it goes! Thanks for commenting.