Stop in for Chicken Cranberry Rice Soup, our heavenly Cheesecake or Bread Pudding, a Maple Steamer, or a Beef and Cheddar Panini made with Chuck Roast and Sauteed Onions.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Winter Hours at Rock River Cafe'
Winter was late, but it's here now! Time for fun in the snow. This past weekend during Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday weekend, we filled the neighborhood with plenty of snow and plenty of cold temperatures to freeze Eben Ice Caves.
Stop in for Chicken Cranberry Rice Soup, our heavenly Cheesecake or Bread Pudding, a Maple Steamer, or a Beef and Cheddar Panini made with Chuck Roast and Sauteed Onions.
Stop in for Chicken Cranberry Rice Soup, our heavenly Cheesecake or Bread Pudding, a Maple Steamer, or a Beef and Cheddar Panini made with Chuck Roast and Sauteed Onions.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Grammy's Apple Mess
Sitting in the Cafe dining room looking out at the dove gray skies, breathing the apple cinnamon through my nose, my mind imagines it's been a wonderful year for apple orchards. I mean, it smells that way to me! People in the neighborhood have been making cider, apple sauce, apple butter, and who knows what lately. Me? I'm baking Grammy's Apple Mess. It's a recipe that my mother wrote down while listening to a radio show in our cape cod house on Tunxis Ave in Bloomfield Connecticut. I was a little girl who loved this Apple Mess, and at the time, couldn't understand why we couldn't whip the crab apples that hung over Mom's 1954 pink Crown Victoria into such sweetness.
This recipe is absolutely fantastic to make with a young person in your life. Measurements are easy and forgiving.
Grammy's Apple Mess
Equipment:
A Wooden Spoon
A Fork
1 Cup Dry Measure
1 Teaspoon Measure
A Medium Bowl
An 8x8" or 9x9" Square Pan
An Oven
Ingredients:
3 Tart Apples cut into any kind of chunks (½" or so?) (I leave the skins on)
2 Eggs
1 Stick Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Chop your apples. Shape and size don't particularly matter. Put the butter into the bowl. Microwave on high for about 1 minute to just melt it. Beat the eggs into the bowl with the fork until they're well mixed. Add the sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and continue to mix with the fork. Add the flour and stir just until incorporated with the wooden spoon. Throw in the tart apple chunks and stir gently with the wooden spoon.
Scoop it all into the un-greased square pan and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Put a scoop of ice cream on top when serving squares, or dollop with pure whipped cream.
This recipe is absolutely fantastic to make with a young person in your life. Measurements are easy and forgiving.
Grammy's Apple Mess
Equipment:
A Wooden Spoon
A Fork
1 Cup Dry Measure
1 Teaspoon Measure
A Medium Bowl
An 8x8" or 9x9" Square Pan
An Oven
Ingredients:
3 Tart Apples cut into any kind of chunks (½" or so?) (I leave the skins on)
2 Eggs
1 Stick Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Chop your apples. Shape and size don't particularly matter. Put the butter into the bowl. Microwave on high for about 1 minute to just melt it. Beat the eggs into the bowl with the fork until they're well mixed. Add the sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and continue to mix with the fork. Add the flour and stir just until incorporated with the wooden spoon. Throw in the tart apple chunks and stir gently with the wooden spoon.
Scoop it all into the un-greased square pan and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Put a scoop of ice cream on top when serving squares, or dollop with pure whipped cream.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Fresh Berries
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Summer Hours at the Cafe'
Welcome to summer where forest meets farm. Rock River Cafe has shifting hours and menus reflecting local foods and activities. We are currently open Wednesday through Sunday, Noon till Eight PM through October 31st.
Come and enjoy homemade sauces and dressings, local fish, locally baked bread, dilectable desserts, and more in our cozy dining room filled with local art or Al Fresco on our porch. We are a short drive from Munising, the Gateway to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Waterfalls are on the way, and Laughing Whitefish Falls is a few miles west of the cafe.
Come and enjoy homemade sauces and dressings, local fish, locally baked bread, dilectable desserts, and more in our cozy dining room filled with local art or Al Fresco on our porch. We are a short drive from Munising, the Gateway to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Waterfalls are on the way, and Laughing Whitefish Falls is a few miles west of the cafe.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Here are a Few of my Favorite Things This Week
We've just opened the Rock River Cafe' for the summer season. Every season we play around with the menu and think about new ways we can feature local ingredients. My favorite this year is our Sencha Green Iced Tea sweetened with our Backyard Mint Syrup made from Rock River Perennial Garden and Greenhouse Backyard Mint. The balance of subtle sweetness, green tea flavor, and mint suspends perfectly over ice in our mason jar mugs. My granddaughter enjoys chewing on the mint sprig in her glass.
Ahhhh summer!
We've been loving the fresh Lemon Thyme gracing the grilled Lake Superior Whitefish as well. We are still sautéing up Local Wild Leeks from Reh-Morr Farm with fresh veggies for dinner. I've been loving them so much that I almost forgot to make some Leek Relish to hold onto the flavor for a while.
And then there's Rhubarb Syrup to drizzle over ice cream in a homemade gingerbread waffle bowl.
Follow the link to Martha Stewart's website. We make ours a little differently but end up in the same place of wonderful!
Ahhhh summer!
We've been loving the fresh Lemon Thyme gracing the grilled Lake Superior Whitefish as well. We are still sautéing up Local Wild Leeks from Reh-Morr Farm with fresh veggies for dinner. I've been loving them so much that I almost forgot to make some Leek Relish to hold onto the flavor for a while.
And then there's Rhubarb Syrup to drizzle over ice cream in a homemade gingerbread waffle bowl.
Follow the link to Martha Stewart's website. We make ours a little differently but end up in the same place of wonderful!
 |
| Green Tea with Fresh Local Mint Syrup |
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Cluster Flies
There lies a heavy reminder of snow on the ground, but spring will win, it always does. I peer out across the landscape under heavy cloudy resistance at the sandy snow, dirt, puddles. It all feels so slow. It's hard to believe that powers are changing the landscape, unseen. The cluster flies know. They're bouncing on the windows incessantly attempting penetration as ages old instincts sing of tilled soil by machinery or hoof, and the exposure of moist, forgotten earthworms.
We wait. And those who cannot wait create varying landscapes for their amusement, dialing the channel from this to something else. Spring break? There's that. That's what we've done. We've escaped the molasses flow of spring and hurried to a place alive with it already, filling our hearts with birdsong and flowers, the music of it still playing in our minds upon our return.
Our closest friend derives the sap from the maples this time of year. It's the first harvest from the land. And how sweet it is! I'll share some ideas a little further down the page.
The hoop houses in the area are filling with seedlings in total disregard of the grey sky-grey snow. I'm sure the caretakers can't even notice the creeping weather. How could you when your eyes are filled with the miracle of seed? Earth, water, seed interacting to create life, which sustains life, which creates life again. Science and Miracle dance this time of year so obviously, so carelessly, so abundantly, and so confidently. Nature awakens in everything, from first sap, to creation of next year's seed.
I encourage you to taste, slowly, the first evidence of fresh, local spring that passes your lips and hesitates on your tongue.
We wait. And those who cannot wait create varying landscapes for their amusement, dialing the channel from this to something else. Spring break? There's that. That's what we've done. We've escaped the molasses flow of spring and hurried to a place alive with it already, filling our hearts with birdsong and flowers, the music of it still playing in our minds upon our return.
Our closest friend derives the sap from the maples this time of year. It's the first harvest from the land. And how sweet it is! I'll share some ideas a little further down the page.
The hoop houses in the area are filling with seedlings in total disregard of the grey sky-grey snow. I'm sure the caretakers can't even notice the creeping weather. How could you when your eyes are filled with the miracle of seed? Earth, water, seed interacting to create life, which sustains life, which creates life again. Science and Miracle dance this time of year so obviously, so carelessly, so abundantly, and so confidently. Nature awakens in everything, from first sap, to creation of next year's seed.
I encourage you to taste, slowly, the first evidence of fresh, local spring that passes your lips and hesitates on your tongue.
Maple Steamer
- One Cup of Milk (Soy, Almond, Cow, etc.)
- Two Tablespoons of Maple Syrup
Maple Shake
- Four Scoops Ice Cream
- ¼ Cup Maple Syrup
- Milk
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Time Flies!
It was an all day rain today, persistently reminding us the time is nigh for autumn colors, sweaters, rosy cheeks. Winter reached long again this year, making summer negligible and the notice of the "early trees" in August even less welcome than ever.
We also closed our summer location in Munising early this year. We frankly picked a convenient time, as Andrew (the manager) headed out the door for his last semester on his math degree.
Sitting in the cafe' this dark evening with the furnace warming the scent of freshly roasted Sumatran coffee, listening to "Summertime" wilting out of our old radio, I can't believe the first day of autumn is not even upon us.
Produce still opens our front door and makes its way to the cooler and the plates. I've decided to stock pile mint syrup made with Backyard Mint from down the road. It's the heaven that has carried me through the season. I can go years without ice cream, but this summer the pool of fresh mint syrup surrounding my vanilla ice cream while sitting in my bed looking out at miraculous sunsets over the new hoop house just up the road will never leave my memory.
Here's a recipe:
You'll need a large pot of simmering water, a large pot of ice water, a small saucepan, a blender, and a fine mesh sieve.
We also closed our summer location in Munising early this year. We frankly picked a convenient time, as Andrew (the manager) headed out the door for his last semester on his math degree.
Sitting in the cafe' this dark evening with the furnace warming the scent of freshly roasted Sumatran coffee, listening to "Summertime" wilting out of our old radio, I can't believe the first day of autumn is not even upon us.
Produce still opens our front door and makes its way to the cooler and the plates. I've decided to stock pile mint syrup made with Backyard Mint from down the road. It's the heaven that has carried me through the season. I can go years without ice cream, but this summer the pool of fresh mint syrup surrounding my vanilla ice cream while sitting in my bed looking out at miraculous sunsets over the new hoop house just up the road will never leave my memory.
Here's a recipe:
Backyard Mint Syrup
You'll need a large pot of simmering water, a large pot of ice water, a small saucepan, a blender, and a fine mesh sieve.
1 Dozen Mint Stalks (1 foot long)
2 Cups Organic Sugar
2 Cups Water
Put the washed mint stalks into the pot of simmering water. Turn the burner on HIGH. Allow them to boil briefly... 30 seconds or so, until they become bright green. Remove them from the water and place them immediately into the ice water.
Bring the sugar and water to boil in a small saucepan and cook until all of the sugar has dissolved. Set aside. This is "Simple Syrup".
Remove the mint from the ice water and pat the excess water from them with paper towel. Cut the mint into 2-4" lengths. Empty both of your water pots. Wash them both and have them handy.
Place a handful of the mint into the blender and add about 1/2 Cup of the simple syrup. Pulse until well blended. Add more mint and add more syrup. Repeat. Continue this way until all of the mint and all of the syrup are now well blended (pureed) in the blender.
Pour through a fine mesh sieve into one of your now empty pots. Empty and rinse and sanitize the sieve. Pour the Mint Syrup one more time through the sieve into another pot. You're done!
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Missed the Strawberries
Our family visited the Gulf Coast in L.A. (lower Alabama) last week. We were hoping to get some fresh local strawberries while we were there at BJ Farm. They told us that strawberries are 45 days late this year at their farm because of the cold temperatures experienced in that area the winter of 2014.
Where we live, 45 days late would be catastrophic. "45 days late" in lower Alabama is the difference between March and May. Here, "45 days late" really can't happen.
Thinking about that, really makes me grateful for the natural rhythm of things we often enjoy. Those abnormalities in the weather and the seasons keep us in check and keep us grateful for when things go well.
I just checked the UP Food Exchange website to see if any local food is available to purchase for our restaurants yet. Potatoes, eggs and hay are available, as well as ground beef we purchase from Bahrman Farm and maple syrup from Paul Whitmarsh. There's always something that can be purchased locally here. We're fortunate to live here, even if the growing season is short.
I can't wait for Upper Michigan strawberries. Here's hoping they're not "45 days late".
Where we live, 45 days late would be catastrophic. "45 days late" in lower Alabama is the difference between March and May. Here, "45 days late" really can't happen.
Thinking about that, really makes me grateful for the natural rhythm of things we often enjoy. Those abnormalities in the weather and the seasons keep us in check and keep us grateful for when things go well.
I just checked the UP Food Exchange website to see if any local food is available to purchase for our restaurants yet. Potatoes, eggs and hay are available, as well as ground beef we purchase from Bahrman Farm and maple syrup from Paul Whitmarsh. There's always something that can be purchased locally here. We're fortunate to live here, even if the growing season is short.
I can't wait for Upper Michigan strawberries. Here's hoping they're not "45 days late".
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Something Has Sprouted
Looking out at the falling snow, dreaming of white sandy beaches, my mind has been called back to the earth, the sun, the possibility of miracles sprouting from seeds.
It's been a long winter. It matters not about ones experience, ones delicious detailed stories they carry in worn places of the mind to tell anyone who'll listen about that most memorable snow storm, that most memorable winter. Today, that's filed in the region of the brain called 'garbage'. We've had enough. There's no glory here under the heavy gray sky that's threatening another inch of constraint, another inch of hesitation, another inch of frustration.
But my salad. My salad fills my mind with miraculous reminder of exponential growth not found in any bar graph. A local farmer has sprouted seeds, apparently against the will of the atmosphere. And here I am, having placed that local grace on the very top of my salad, remembering the deliciousness of spring. It is here, somewhere.
Organic Mixed Greens
Organic Baby Kale
Tons of Bleu Cheese
Fresh Blueberries
Orange Cardamom Vinaigrette
Tons of Fresh, Local, Pea and Popcorn Shoots Right on Top
3 T Local Maple Syrup
1 T Freshly Grated Orange Peel
4 T Orange Juice (don't worry, just grate and squeeze an orange)
1/2 t Ground Cardamom
1/2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1-1/2 C Olive Oil
Throw everything except the olive oil into a bowl. Either whisk briskly or use a mixer while drizzling in the olive oil ever so slowly to emulsify the dressing. Taste and add sea salt or more cardamom as you'd like.
It's been a long winter. It matters not about ones experience, ones delicious detailed stories they carry in worn places of the mind to tell anyone who'll listen about that most memorable snow storm, that most memorable winter. Today, that's filed in the region of the brain called 'garbage'. We've had enough. There's no glory here under the heavy gray sky that's threatening another inch of constraint, another inch of hesitation, another inch of frustration.
But my salad. My salad fills my mind with miraculous reminder of exponential growth not found in any bar graph. A local farmer has sprouted seeds, apparently against the will of the atmosphere. And here I am, having placed that local grace on the very top of my salad, remembering the deliciousness of spring. It is here, somewhere.
It's Spring Somewhere Salad
Organic Mixed Greens
Organic Baby Kale
Tons of Bleu Cheese
Fresh Blueberries
Orange Cardamom Vinaigrette
Tons of Fresh, Local, Pea and Popcorn Shoots Right on Top
Rock River Restaurants Orange Cardamom Vinaigrette
3 T Local Maple Syrup
1 T Freshly Grated Orange Peel
4 T Orange Juice (don't worry, just grate and squeeze an orange)
1/2 t Ground Cardamom
1/2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1-1/2 C Olive Oil
Throw everything except the olive oil into a bowl. Either whisk briskly or use a mixer while drizzling in the olive oil ever so slowly to emulsify the dressing. Taste and add sea salt or more cardamom as you'd like.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Lettuce Begin
We've been getting wonderful little handfuls of local greens and lettuce this past month. It's certainly not nearly enough for the needs of our customers at Rock River Lunch Bag and Rock River Cafe'. It's been brought to the Lunch Bag by Vicki from the local community hoop house and by Shelter Bay Tomatoes.
I love starting out the summer marveling at the wonderfulness of the fresh local produce. There's always a stark contrast between the fresh and local and the stuff I get to fill the void in the winter. I wish it was always fresh and local. But it's not.
It's an imperfect process, requiring creativity, energy, patience, and acceptance of the limitations of supply. One of our locations closes in the winter for lack of demand and lack of supply. We found that the menu had to shift so far from our intentions, that it just needs to stop.
We are ecstatic that the customers and the produce are coming back. I look forward to summer, and seeing the joy on visitors' faces as they also marvel at the fresh and local on their plates.
I love starting out the summer marveling at the wonderfulness of the fresh local produce. There's always a stark contrast between the fresh and local and the stuff I get to fill the void in the winter. I wish it was always fresh and local. But it's not.
It's an imperfect process, requiring creativity, energy, patience, and acceptance of the limitations of supply. One of our locations closes in the winter for lack of demand and lack of supply. We found that the menu had to shift so far from our intentions, that it just needs to stop.
We are ecstatic that the customers and the produce are coming back. I look forward to summer, and seeing the joy on visitors' faces as they also marvel at the fresh and local on their plates.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Scrambling Eggs~Scrambling Menus
This time of year is always a bit of a juggle in Rock River Restaurants. We're ramping up for the summer tourist season, testing new ideas, juggling fresh ingredients, training new staff and have not quite enough customers yet.
This year, we're beating a lot of eggs. Trenary Ducks & More got certified some months ago so we now have a great source of local eggs. We're feeling better about eggs than we have since we opened our first restaurant two years ago. I'd gotten to a point last summer where I was ready to let go of cooking breakfast, quite frankly, until we could find happy chickens. The prayer (demand) has been answered, finally. And it's been answered with not only happy chickens, but with another signature ingredient the Rock River Fresh & Local brand is excited to put in the menu: duck eggs.
And there's more to come... in July we plan to be offering Light of Day Organics tea, Mitten Munch, and Just Good Chocolate. Local is so fantastically wonderful!
This year, we're beating a lot of eggs. Trenary Ducks & More got certified some months ago so we now have a great source of local eggs. We're feeling better about eggs than we have since we opened our first restaurant two years ago. I'd gotten to a point last summer where I was ready to let go of cooking breakfast, quite frankly, until we could find happy chickens. The prayer (demand) has been answered, finally. And it's been answered with not only happy chickens, but with another signature ingredient the Rock River Fresh & Local brand is excited to put in the menu: duck eggs.
And there's more to come... in July we plan to be offering Light of Day Organics tea, Mitten Munch, and Just Good Chocolate. Local is so fantastically wonderful!
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Ducks Know
This spring has been fraught with all too much snow and not enough warmth to get any fresh food growing that's not protected by hoop houses and greenhouses. This has caused me to lean heavily on eggs as I conjure this and that.
Our egg supplier says the ducks have been laying like crazy. They know it's spring, even if the weather has been slow to emulate the calendar. Today I'm sharing a recipe for Pannukakku which is Finnish Pancake sometimes also referred to as Kropsua. We live amongst a significant Finnish population that's been here a few generations now. Many of them are fairly certain about such things as Kropsua and Pannukakku, and some of those are certain in slightly different ways, if you get my meaning. The following is close to the recipe we've chosen for the Rock River Cafe' for its authenticity and its speed of preparation. There is another school of thought which requires a whole bunch more milk and a whole lot more time. I would guess that it's much more custardy and worth the wait.
The following recipe is great when made in an iron skillet in the oven, fairly quickly. In fact, here's a video I often refer to that shows the completed project just out of the oven, as it deflates. The video even has some wonderfully celebratory music that accompanies it!
4 Free Range Chicken or Duck Eggs
2 C Whole (Preferably Cream~line) Milk
1/2 C Fair Trade Organic Sugar
1 t Sea Salt
1 t Pure Organic Fair Trade Vanilla
1 1/4 C Organic Unbleached Wheat Flour
3 T Butter (cut into two pieces)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, placing a 12" lightly oiled (seasoned, not greasy) iron skillet inside immediately. Make ready all of your ingredients. Begin by beating the eggs in a mixing bowl with a fork until well blended. Beat in the milk, sugar, salt, vanilla and lastly, gradually add in the flour, continually stirring. Allow for lumps, but only small ones.
Throw the butter into the hot skillet, allowing it to quickly melt, and then follow it with all of the batter and close the oven door.
Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes. It is done when a knife comes out clean. Allow it to rest a few minutes before serving.
Toppings? Powdered Sugar, Maple Syrup, Berry Coulis, or Raspberry Jam
Yummy!
Our egg supplier says the ducks have been laying like crazy. They know it's spring, even if the weather has been slow to emulate the calendar. Today I'm sharing a recipe for Pannukakku which is Finnish Pancake sometimes also referred to as Kropsua. We live amongst a significant Finnish population that's been here a few generations now. Many of them are fairly certain about such things as Kropsua and Pannukakku, and some of those are certain in slightly different ways, if you get my meaning. The following is close to the recipe we've chosen for the Rock River Cafe' for its authenticity and its speed of preparation. There is another school of thought which requires a whole bunch more milk and a whole lot more time. I would guess that it's much more custardy and worth the wait.
The following recipe is great when made in an iron skillet in the oven, fairly quickly. In fact, here's a video I often refer to that shows the completed project just out of the oven, as it deflates. The video even has some wonderfully celebratory music that accompanies it!
Pannukakku~
4 Free Range Chicken or Duck Eggs
2 C Whole (Preferably Cream~line) Milk
1/2 C Fair Trade Organic Sugar
1 t Sea Salt
1 t Pure Organic Fair Trade Vanilla
1 1/4 C Organic Unbleached Wheat Flour
3 T Butter (cut into two pieces)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, placing a 12" lightly oiled (seasoned, not greasy) iron skillet inside immediately. Make ready all of your ingredients. Begin by beating the eggs in a mixing bowl with a fork until well blended. Beat in the milk, sugar, salt, vanilla and lastly, gradually add in the flour, continually stirring. Allow for lumps, but only small ones.
Throw the butter into the hot skillet, allowing it to quickly melt, and then follow it with all of the batter and close the oven door.
Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes. It is done when a knife comes out clean. Allow it to rest a few minutes before serving.
Toppings? Powdered Sugar, Maple Syrup, Berry Coulis, or Raspberry Jam
Yummy!
Monday, April 1, 2013
Meat & Potatoes
Winter is great for celebrating those items that sustain us from the cellar and the freezer and the bakery down the road. The chickens and ducks are still laying as well.
At the Rock River Cafe', we design the menu around local availability of products during the seasons. The customer favorite this year has certainly been the Farm Burger. When David from Trenary Ducks and More sent me a message in December to tell me he'd become certified to sell his eggs to businesses, I thought about how I might use his product in a showcase kind of way. Then I remembered a customer and my own son ordering the addition of an egg atop their burgers. It brought back the memory of sitting in a Paris restaurant as an eleven year old, ordering a hamburger, and seeing it arrive with an egg on top. That was the answer.
Carmen, our winter chef, my son Daniel, my husband John and I all collaborated on creating the best Farm Burger we could with a duck egg gracing the top of our creation. We grilled a buttered (Jilbert Dairy butter) Trenary Bakery bun, in a Lodge Logic Cast Iron Skillet, painted some of our rich, garlicky pub sauce on the bottom, threw down some sauteed sweet onions, a slab of fresh tomato, Bahrman Potato Farm lean ground beef, nice warm melty sharp Wisconsin cheddar cheese, and topped the burger with an over-medium duck egg.
Our neighbor, Aaron Peterson stopped in one day soon afterward and ordered our Farm Burger. Being a man who sees life through a camera lens, he looked at his burger in this way. A little notoriety quickly followed, and so did the orders...
Thanks to all of our wonderful neighbors who produce the food, eat the food, and capture the essence of the rich quality of life in abundance in our neighborhood. You all bring unmeasurable joy to our world.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Caramel Apples
Apples store for a long time and are a wonderful source of long lasting local food here in Michigan. Caramel Apples are fun for the family to make together, topping them different ways, and making caramel suckers with the leftover caramel. This is Rock River Lunch Bag's recipe for caramel apples made with local apples and local honey. You can cut twigs off of local trees for the sticks.
Ingredients:
1 Stick (1/2 Cup) Butter
2 Cups Packed Brown Sugar
1 Cup Local Honey (you can substitute some or all with corn syrup)
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 teaspoons Organic Vanilla Extract
10 Large or 16 Medium Apples washed & dried, sticks inserted through the top & all the way through
5 Extra Sticks for Suckers
Optional Toppings:
Chopped Almonds, Pecans, Peanuts
Chopped Fair-Trade Chocolate
Sea Salt
Organic Evaporated Cane Juice (Sugar)
Anything else you can think to stick on it!
Instructions:
Heat butter, brown sugar, and honey on medium-high heat in a heavy pot till it begins to boil. Add can of condensed milk. Turn heat back to medium and cook till 248 degrees or soft ball forms when dropped into water. This may take 20 minutes or so. Add the vanilla. If you can dial your stove down to very low, you may. This helps keep the caramel warm while you coat the apples.
Tip the pot to an angle if necessary and dip each apple, rolling in the caramel. At this time, you may sprinkle with sea salt, sugar, chopped nuts, chopped fair-trade chocolate, etc. to embellish each apple after you complete its caramel. The caramel sets quickly, so it's helpful if there are two of you working through dipping and sprinkling or rolling in toppings.
When you've coated as many apples as possible, drop tablespoonfuls of caramel onto parchment paper and press sticks into the circles of caramel to make suckers.
Ingredients:
1 Stick (1/2 Cup) Butter
2 Cups Packed Brown Sugar
1 Cup Local Honey (you can substitute some or all with corn syrup)
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 teaspoons Organic Vanilla Extract
10 Large or 16 Medium Apples washed & dried, sticks inserted through the top & all the way through
5 Extra Sticks for Suckers
Optional Toppings:
Chopped Almonds, Pecans, Peanuts
Chopped Fair-Trade Chocolate
Sea Salt
Organic Evaporated Cane Juice (Sugar)
Anything else you can think to stick on it!
Instructions:
Heat butter, brown sugar, and honey on medium-high heat in a heavy pot till it begins to boil. Add can of condensed milk. Turn heat back to medium and cook till 248 degrees or soft ball forms when dropped into water. This may take 20 minutes or so. Add the vanilla. If you can dial your stove down to very low, you may. This helps keep the caramel warm while you coat the apples.
Tip the pot to an angle if necessary and dip each apple, rolling in the caramel. At this time, you may sprinkle with sea salt, sugar, chopped nuts, chopped fair-trade chocolate, etc. to embellish each apple after you complete its caramel. The caramel sets quickly, so it's helpful if there are two of you working through dipping and sprinkling or rolling in toppings.
When you've coated as many apples as possible, drop tablespoonfuls of caramel onto parchment paper and press sticks into the circles of caramel to make suckers.
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