Fiction-Food Café: Baymax Caramel Apples

"Big Hero 6" is, at its heart, a movie about a boy and his robot (well, okay, it's about forming and being true to meaningful relationships, but, ya know). Baymax (voiced by Scott Adsit) is the care-giving, marshmallow of a robot created by Hiro's big brother Tadashi (whose features were designed to resemble a Shinto suzu bell). Throughout the course of the movie, with all of the experiences they share, Hiro (voiced by Ryan Potter) and Baymax develop a very strong bond. I imagine Disney Parks will soon have apples similar to these to add to their character caramel apple line-up, but as of right now, these are the first ones!

Baymax Caramel Apples

Ingredients (for 3 apples):
3 Large, Granny Smith Apples, as round as you can find
1 Bag Caramel Pieces (I used Kraft Caramel Bits–worked great!)
1 Bag Bright White Candy Melts
1/4 Bag Black Candy Melts + 6 Black "Wafers" reserved for the eyes
EZ-Thin Dipping Aid/Paramount Crystals (optional but totally worth it for ease of dipping)

Important Items:
3 Thick, Candy Apple Skewers (Disney uses white paper, semi-pointed, 5 1/2″ x 15/64″ sticks which I found on Amazon)
Waxed or Parchment Paper
3 White Cupcake Liners
Candy Decorating Squeeze Bottle
Kitchen Scissors (optional)

Directions:

1. Wash & dry the apples thoroughly & remove the stems. Sit the apples upside down on the counter & skewer them (through the bottoms, not where the stems were) about an inch or so in (skewering them upside down gives them more stability). Prepare a tray by lining it with parchment paper & spraying it with non-stick spray.
2. In a medium-small pot melt the caramel pieces according to package directions–which includes adding 2 Tbsps. or so of water. When the caramel is nice & smooth (add a little more water if it's too thick) tilt the pot & roll an apple in the sauce while holding onto the stick (spooning caramel on top, around the base of the stick, can help too). Take a moment to let excess caramel drip back into the pot & scrape the bottom of the apple either with a spoon or on the edge of the pot. Place the dipped apple onto the paper-lined tray. Once all of the apples are dipped in caramel sit the tray in the fridge for about an hour.

3. Remove the apples from the fridge. In a double boiler or a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water, melt the white candy melts. If using the EZ Thin/paramount crystals, stir in tablespoonfuls until the melt is pourable & smooth. Tip the bowl or pot & dip an apple in & roll it around, tilting it as much as possible to coat it around the base of the stick, until the entire apple in evenly coated & smooth. Again, use a spoon or the edge of the pot/bowl to scrape off excess melt. Place the coated apple on the tray. Let the sit on the counter until the white coating has hardened. If the white layer looks too thin or you just don't like the look of it you can roll the apples in the melt again.
4. Melt the black candy melts the same way you did the whites (clean & thoroughly dry the same bowl or pot if you need to), adding paramount crystals as needed if you have them. With the 6 reserved black wafers, rub the flat sides to make them more black & then gently scrape away the little point from the other side of the wafer. If you'd like to make the smiling Baymax face (the smile is in the eyes), carefully cut the bottom 1/3 of the wafers straight across with clean kitchen scissors. Next, pour the melted black into the decorating bottle & carefully squeeze a straight, horizontal line onto each apple. Squeeze a dot of black at the ends of the line & place one black wafer on each end to become the eyes (see the images in this post for reference). Flatten out the cupcake liners & place 1 completed Baymax apple on each. Store in the fridge until ready to eat or gift.