Happy Halloween! This has become my favourite trick or treat item, and I love sitting on the pavement handing these out to happy little faces!They’re easy and inexpensive to make, and personally I prefer to not have all the plastic wrappers from store-bought candy floating around.

For the candy: (yields enough for 9- 10)
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1/3 cup of golden syrup
Half a teaspoon of white vinegar
A couple of drops of black gel food colouring
You will also need apples and skewers

To make the candy, combine all the ingredients (reserving the food colouring) in a saucepan
and stir over a medium heat until the sugar begins to melt. Turn down the heat and allow it
to simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring only occasionally. To test whether it has reached
the right temperature, you can use a sugar thermometer or the traditional method. If you
have a thermometer, turn off the heat once the syrup has reached 150º C.

If you don’t have one, drop a bit of the syrup into a glass of cold water and if it forms a solid ball, it is ready to use. Stir In some black gel food colouring until you get the desired colour.

For the toffee apples I prefer to use Granny Smith apples as they are firm but you can use whichever kind you like. It’s very important to thoroughly wash and dry the apples before you start coating them, as any waxiness will stop the candy from sticking to the apple. Insert a skewer into the apple and then dip it into the syrup, twisting so that the entire apple is evenly coated. You can also use a spoon to get to any parts of the apple that are hard to reach. Once well coated, you can place them down a sheet of baking paper and allow them to harden.