Caramel Apples Are Back

Whew! I am committing to my blog! I am so excited to have fall here and caramel apples! We are starting with the cool crisp Jonney Grimes apples that will be double-dipped in our buttery, smooth caramel.

Many of the Lillie Mae Chocolate followers who love our caramel apples have no idea how we make them! Well I will tell you. We start with a batch of our homemade, old-fashioned caramel. We cook it in a copper kettle using fresh cream, butter, and pure cane sugar. I can't give you the whole recipe (I would be out of a job!:) but trust me it is full of goodness. The apples are delivered daily to our shop from both the Heingarder and Appleberry orchards. We use Johnathan's the majority of the season for the tart crisp apple - it blends great with our soft caramel. We clean and shine the apples one at a time. I love the way a bushel of apples looks after being shined - it screams fall to me! We then stick an apple stick in the apple and wait for the temperature of the caramel to get to the right spot. We remove the kettle from the open flame and stir it so that it cools to the right temperature. We then dip the apples twice to make sure there is a very thick caramel on each apple.

There you have it - our world famous double-dipped caramel apple! Aimee

First Place

Talk about starting something and not finishing! It has been forever since I posted - I'm sorry! It has been a busy summer. In July we attended the Retail Confection National Convention in Branson. It was a fun family trip and a blast! We entered our state fair exhibit/ chocolates titled "Chocolate on-a-stick" and won first place. The candies included for the exhibit were: Tor-tush, chocolate caramel, and Ultimate Sm'ore on-a-stick. We attended classes on mold making, caramel and fudge making, and the candy clinic. We also toured a couple of chocolate factories which is always fun! The boys did many touristy things in Branson and swam a ton!!

We were at the State Fair during August. As always it felt like a marathon. Thank you to all returning customers who see us at the fair!!

Farmers Market

We are now at the Des Moines farmer's market!! What a fun experience - and tiring. I get up at 3:45 to make myself beautiful :) and load the car. Tom just rolls out of bed and is ready to roll. We are on the road by 5:00 am and have to be checked in by 6-ish. It is a great place for us - music and chocolate waif through the air. We are selling caramel apples, fudge, caramels, and chocolate dipped strawberries. We get to visit with current, past, and future customers. A lady came up to me who met me at the fair, she then ordered online at Christmas, and said she was very happy. How fun is that to meet a online customer! If you are interested in the Des Moines farmers market it is Saturdays from 7 am - 12 pm on Court Avenue http://www.knowdowntown.com/events/farmersmarket/.

Lillie's New Blog!

Welcome to our new blog!! We have changed our blog method at Lillie Mae! We thought it would be a great way to share the fun and crazy behind-the-scenes action at the "shop".
The characters:
Lillie aka Aimee - head chocolate slinger
Tom S. - the hubby/ organizer of the shop
TJ, Spence, and Carson - the three musketeers