I am a big fan of tasting parties ~ wine tastings and cupcakes tastings are at the top of my list. When I got together with a group of girlfriends recently, I needed a fun fall tasting idea. Tasting parties are a perfect  excuse to eat more of the good stuff. They give people the opportunity to try something they might not necessarily have picked themselves, and it’s fun to see everyone’s favorites. Nothing says fall more than caramel apples, right? That’s how the caramel apple tasting idea was born. 

I wasn’t sure in the initial planning stages how to prepare the tastings. I have seen people use a melon baller to make caramel apple bites on a stick. I think it looks adorable, but dipping each little bite was more than I had time for, plus I was a little concerned about the apples browning. The mini apples are cute, but too big to make each person one, especially when there were multiple flavors to try. In the end, I made five large caramel apples. It made for a nice presentation, and then we just cut up each apple as we went along.

The caramel also was a bit of a dilema. (I’m terrible at making decisions, way too much over-analyzing!) I love the taste of home-made caramel, and it really isn’t too hard to make, but in the end I thought it would be faster to melt the caramel squares that you buy in a pack. Be warned, you will spend a bunch of time unwrapping each caramel, so I’m not sure how much time it saves in the end. As far as taste goes, the home-made caramel is far superior. The candy caramels made for a very chewy, ultra-sticky caramel. If you’re going for taste, go the home-made caramel route. If you’re going for ease, you’ll spend time unwrapping caramels, but you can melt what you need in the microwave.

When it comes to flavors, there are a ton of yummy combinations. *See directions below on how to make them.

Here are the five we sampled:

Apple pie ~ caramel and white chocolate, with Cinnamon Toast Crunch sprinkled on top

Chocolate Peanut-Butter ~ caramel and milk chocolate, with Reese’s Pieces on top (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups would also be fabulous!)

Cookies and Cream ~ caramel, white chocolate, with crushed Oreos

English Toffee ~ caramel, milk chocolate, toffee bits, and crushed almonds

S’mores ~ caramel, milk chocolate, mini marshmallows, and graham cracker pieces.

My girlfriend, Tami, created a new flavor after our girl’s night using caramel, milk chocolate, pieces of Mounds bar, and shredded coconut. I didn’t get to taste it, but I drooled over the picture she texted me.

The award for best caramel apple of the night was a unanimous vote. Drumroll please…

The Cinnamon Toast Crunch and white chocolate made for an amazing combination. It wasn’t an easy decision though, as they were all really tasty.

Here’s a few more flavors that would be fun to try at a tasting party…

Rocky Road ~ caramel, dark chocolate, pecans, marshmallows,

Black Forest ~ caramel, dark chocolate, and chopped cherries

Snicker’s ~ caramel, milk chocolate, bits of Snicker’s

Does anyone have any suggestions for other caramel apple flavors? I’d love to hear them!

*To prep them, rinse and completely dry apples. Place lollipop sticks in the center. Melt caramels. Dip apple into the caramel. I tip the bowl a bit sideways and twirl the apple to coat it. Let the caramel set. Then, melt chocolate and dip apple again. Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle with the toppings you choose.