Jackson Pollock Candied Apples

Named for their resemblance to the splattered paintings of artist Jackson Pollock, these apples are a fun Halloween project - if you have kids, they'll love getting involved with the "artistic" drizzling.  The point here isn't neatness, but a fun smattering of the two different colored chocolates. 

Ingredients:

• 6 Granny Smith apples
• 3 ounces dark chocolate
• 2.5 ounces vegan white chocolate*

1. Wash and dry the apples, and remove the stems.  Stick a wooden popsicle stick into the stem end of each apple.  (Note: I found the sticks at a Michael's craft store, but if you can't find any, try forks instead)

2. Coarsely chop the dark chocolate and place in a glass bowl.  I recommend a bittersweet dark chocolate for this recipe, or about 80% cacao.  Microwave for 1 minute, stirring in 20 second intervals, until melted.

3. Working with 1 apple at a time, hold over the bowl and drizzle with about 2 teaspoons of the chocolate.  Place the apple, stick side up, on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.  Repeat with the remaining apples.

4. Coarsely chop the white chocolate and place in a glass bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute, stirring in 15 to 20 second intervals, until melted.  Working with 1 apple at a time, hold over the bowl and drizzle with about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons white chocolate.  Return to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining apples.  Chill the apples until ready to serve.

*Several varieties of vegan white chocolate are available these days, all for purchase at places like veganessentials.com.  I used Organica, but it didn't hold its texture very well once melted, so you might consider one of the other brands on the market such as Plamil or Organic Nectars, and see if your results are better.

Nutrition Info:
6 servings (1 apple), Calories 260

Tasting Notes:
Eating these will make you feel like a kid again.  I can't even remember the last time I ate an apple off a stick.  Still, although the green Granny Smith made for a visually arresting presentation, I should have known the end result would be too tart for my taste.  The sweet drizzles of chocolate were not enough to offset the pucker, so next time I would go ahead and sacrifice aesthetics and use a sweet, red variety of apple, in which case I would rate this recipe much higher.

Rating:
2

Vegan Extra:
As a side note, this recipe is a great way to eat apples while they're at peak season.  But if you don't feel like splattering your apples in chocolate, make sure to eat them now anyway.  Some of my favorites for snacking this year have been Jonagolds;

Red Delicious;

and Empires.

Get 'em while they last.