Apple & Cider Festival | Killerton House

I was recently contacted by the lovely Helen at National Trust Killerton to see if I’d be interested in making a few things using freshly picked apples from their orchard. Being a lover of all things autumn and having been to Killerton myself when I was younger I immediately said yes!

Killerton is in Broadclyst, Exeter which is located in the wonderful county of Devon. It is home to Killerton House which was built in the 18^th century, and has been owned by the National Trust since 1944. The house and its fantastic hillside grounds are open to the public and this year they’ll be having an Apple & Cider Festival. They have over 500 acres of traditionally managed orchards growing over 100 varieties of old English apples, so I was really excited to receive my box of these delicious apples.

Do you fancy seeing what I decided to make? Of course you do!

CARAMEL APPLES

October is also the month of Halloween and I always remember either making or buying Caramel, Chocolate or Toffee Apples. They bring back so many memories for me and find them not only easy, but they’re fun to make at home.

There are 2 ways to making the caramel for your apples – One is using shop bought caramels or, the second option is by using water, sugar, condensed milk and a sugar thermometer. I of course opted for the easier option.

You will need:

Apples – any size, shape or variety

1 bag of soft caramels

Lollipop or Cake Pop Sticks

2tsp milk

Method

1.       Fill a pot full of boiling water, and leave your apples in here for about 2 minutes. This not only gets rid of any nasties but, also any wax which will stop your caramel from sticking.

2.       Once clean, remove the stem and insert the lollipop stick from the bottom of the apple. Push through until it’s reached the middle of the apple.

3.       Put your caramels in a microwaveable bowl and add your milk. The milk just allows the caramels to become a little bit creamier and will give the caramels a nice sheen too. Just pop them into the microwave for about 2 minutes. If the mixture is still a little bit lumpy then give it a good mix and pop back into the microwave for another minute.

4.       Once your caramel mixture is ready then, simply dunk your apples in making sure that the whole apple is covered. Sometimes you will need to dunk it in a few more times to get the coverage. When you’re finished just put them onto a piece of baking paper and decorate if needed. I used crushed brownies for an added bite.

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TOFFEE APPLE BARK

You will need:

Apples, peeled & sliced

1 bag of soft caramels

½ bar of white chocolate

1 bar of milk chocolate

Method

1.       Start by melting your milk chocolate, only ¾ though as you will need to use the rest for something later. Whilst you’re waiting for the chocolate to melt, grab a baking tray or a chopping board – something with a smooth surface that you can move. This is because you will need to put some lightly greased baking paper on top of the baking tray/chopping board to allow the chocolate to set evenly.

2.       Once your chocolate has melted, pour the mixture onto the baking paper and lightly smooth out with a knife or spatula. Sadly, you will need to wait until the chocolate has hardened before the next step.

3.       When the chocolate has hardened you can then start peeling your apples and either slice or chop them. Cover the chocolate with the apples and then add whatever you fancy. Of course, I melted my caramels and poured some of this over lightly and also added dollops of biscuit crunch (this stuff is amazing!)

4.       Melt the rest of the milk chocolate and lightly drizzle over apples – it will act as glue. Once that has hardened you can then add some more of the apples etc – I chose to add chunks of white chocolate for this part. You can then finish off with the rest of the caramel and chocolate and leave until it’s finally set (Yes, I know bark can take forever to set but, just think of how amazing it’s going to taste!)

5.       Bark is a chocolate treat that doesn’t have to look pretty so with a rolling pin, just bash to form random chunks. Enjoy!!

My mixture didn’t turn out exactly how I envisioned, so rather than having a chocolate bark, I had a crunchy caramelised apple toffee. It still tasted amazing though. 

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DIY APPLE TEALIGHT HOLDERS

I had a few apples left over, and didn’t want though to go to waste so, rather than throwing them away I decided I would make use of these and have them as some tea light holders.  They give off such a cosy feel in the home and look incredible dotted around. Plus they cost nothing to make!

You will need:

Apples (various shapes, sizes etc)

Craft Knife

Tea lights

Method

1.       Remove the stem from your apple, and trace around your tea light with a pencil.

2.       Cut around the circle with a crafting knife and scoop out enough of the apple inside, so that it will fit the tea light in.

3.       Add your tea light and decorate around the apple if needed.

It’s such a simple and fun way of making use of your tea lights. I used one of my Yankee Candle tea lights in Orange Splash. Sadly, these are thick tea lights and were poking out a little bit but, they still looked fantastic. NOTE: As apples will brown once cut into, you’ll need to throw these DIY holders after 1 day so, they’ll be perfect for a Halloween party along with pumpkins.

So there you go, my 3 ideas using apples and I must say I really enjoyed making them all. The bark went down a treat, and I felt like a kid again when biting into my caramel apple.

Killerton Cider and Apple Festival will be running from Saturday 18^th – Sunday 19^th October. Visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killertonapples or their Facebook Page HERE for more information on prices and what will be in store over this 2 day festival.

If you are going to be making any of the above then please tweet a picture to @KMacBlogs & @NTKillerton using #Apple&CiderFestival – We’d love to see what you decide to make!

xo Kerry