How not to be beaten by bobbing or tricked by a toffee apple this season
We love an apple, but they’ve been causing trouble for millennia, what with tempting innocent folk going about their business in the garden of Eden, causing discord among Greek Gods and all sorts of trouble in Norse legend, too.
And even today, if you’ve ever tried bobbing for apples or munching on a toffee apple at this time of year you’ll know they can be tricky customers. Here’s The Simple Things’ guide to getting one over on apples this autumn.
How to eat a toffee apple
Here’s how to avoid a very sticky face, sugar in one’s hair and the risk of dropping your toffee apple on the floor and it rolling into the bonfire….
Etiquette dictates that one should cut a toffee apple into slices and, indeed, this is the way to eat one if you wish to eliminate all the above risks. Take a sharp knife and a plate and simply slice the apple and remove the core as you would any ordinary (non-toffeed) apple and eat it in bite-sized slices.
The Simple Things method: Open your mouth as wide as possible and take a huge bite at the first pass, showering yourself with shards of sugar, getting sticky bits in your hair and dicing with a trip to the dentist. Because where is the fun, and what on earth is the point otherwise, we ask you.
How to succeed at apple bobbing
Any activity that involves getting wet, probably outside, at the end of October should be undertaken in a wetsuit really. But assuming you’re going to wing it in civvies (or a Halloween costume) here’s how the pros think you should proceed.
Don’t just randomly grab at apples with your mouth. You’ll get very wet. You need to think strategically here and go for one of two methods. Either look for an apple floating right way up with a prominent stalk and try to catch the stalk between your teeth (don’t bother with this method if you have a significant overbite), or pick an apple you’re going for and push it up against the side of the bowl using the bowl as leverage in order to sink your teeth into the apple.
The Simple Things method: Come dressed as a witch in a black bin liner, so the top half of your body is essentially waterproof. Don a swimming cap and nose clip. Take a deep breath and plunge your head into the water, using the bottom of the bowl to push against to get your teeth into the apple. Remove swimming cap and witch bin liner and emerge victorious.
If you’re making your own toffee apples for Halloween (or just because) you might like to try the recipe for the toffee apples on twigs (above) from Apple by James Rich (Hardie Grant). You can find the recipe on p71 of our October Create issue or buy it in the link below.
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