Bourbon butterscotch toffee apples

Most apples will have a very thin waxy coating which will stop the toffee sticking. To get rid of it, pour boiling water over the apples then use a dry tea towel to give them a good rub dry. Remove the stalks from the apples and stick in a lollipop stick or similar. (see cook’s notes below).

Put all the remaining toffee ingredients in a large deep pan. It’s important the pan holds a lot more than the ingredients to stop it bubbling over. Heat gently, stirring until uniform in colour, liquid, and the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Boil until the temperature reaches hard-crack stage on a sugar thermometer (145C).

Take off the heat and dip and roll the apples around in the toffee, coating until you have a thin shell. Let the excess drip away, then put on a lightly oiled non-stick baking tray to set.