Inspired by the honeyed apple recipe from Zelda – Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, this sliced caramelized apple recipe is the perfect sweet and tasty treat!
This dessert is a very simple dish, enhanced with a honey-based caramel sauce to make the apples extra sweet. Caramelized apples – the perfect sweet treat for sunny afternoons or a magical dessert. Serve them with fresh whipped cream for an even silkier experience.
Click here for the recipe for Whipped Cream.
Honeyed Apples
in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom:
Apple + Courser Bee Honey
Apples are an essential part of casual gameplay in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. In fact, they might possibly be so essential that they can be easily ignored. You can eat them, sell them, or dye clothing with them.
Apples are especially loved by Koroks, I think. Placing apples at the bottom of a group of statues will result in that satisfying “POOF!” animation as a Korok emerges from hiding. You can also find Koroks lurking in groups of three identical trees – simply pick the extra apples so that all three trees have the same identical apple left, and then… “HA-Ha-Ha!” Out pops the Korok to present with with one of the coveted 999 seeds (I mean… poops. Because that’s what they actually are…)
I love eating apples in autumn -well, year-round too. They are a fall fruit after all, so maybe this shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s quite amazing how many different types of apples there are, and how we all have our favourites. My absolute favourite apple, the Honeycrisp, is a little hard to get at my local store, so I usually resort to Galas these days. I’m not a fan of green apples, though they are the better choice for cooking – I just can’t stand them.
I first discovered Honeycrisp apples back when I lived in Montréal. There was a local market area near Station Jean-Talon which had the most amazing displays of local produce and goods that I’ve ever seen. There were Brussels sprouts still on the stocks like giant jingle bells, massive jars of dark buckwheat honey, abundant fresh eggs, beautiful local flowers, and paniers upon paniers of fruits and vegetables. My French wasn’t that great, but I was always excited to go up to my favourite apple farmer each week and ask for a basket of Honeycrisps. If you’re ever in Montreal, please visit to the Marché Jean-Talon, it’s a beautiful place. So yeah, apples always remind me of one of my favourite memories of living in Montréal.
I wanted to change the recipe for honeyed apples in Breath of the Wild to caramelized apples, since there is another recipe in the game very similar to honeyed apples: buttered apples. Literally, one ingredient different, and I wanted these two recipes to be a bit less similar as I write about them. So, this one is caramelized apples, and buttered apples in another post (basically applesauce but a touch fancier).
Traditional caramel apples are super hard to eat. They are sticky beyond belief, the caramel is often so thick and stringy that it’s hard to bite off a chunk, and the apple inside often overly tart and almost tastes bitter against the caramel. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy caramel apples, but I wanted to translate this into a recipe that was slightly easier to eat for someone like me with some pretty strong food aversions. I struggle with eating super sticky foods, especially that are as large as a whole apple. I wanted to make a caramelized apple dish that was easier to eat, and eating fruit in general is a lot easier if it’s sliced.
To boot, cooking the sliced apples in the caramel allows the flavours to mix more – a less stark contrast between the apple and the caramel. It’s absolutely delicious with whipped cream or over ice cream, or you could even have a fantastic breakfast of these apples over a bowl of oatmeal or some waffles! So, here’s my recipe for caramelized apples with whipped cream.
Sliced Caramel Apples
This is the quickest and simplest caramel apple dessert ever! Serve it warm and enjoy it right away. Enjoy it by itself, or topped with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
This recipe makes 2 servings and is ready in as little as 25 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 apples -Green Apples work best, but any apple is fine. I used Galas.
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup plant-based or dairy milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of ground nutmeg
- pinch of sea salt
- optional: whipped cream (recipe linked here) or vanilla ice cream
Tools
- cutting board
- knife
- optional: peeler
- measuring spoons
- cooking spoon or spatula
- cooking pot
Instructions
Prepare the whipped cream before you start this recipe if you’re planning to have some!
1. Peel and core the apples, then cut them up into thin slices.
2. Add the apples and water to a saucepan over high heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Add the butter and turn the heat down to medium. Simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Add the honey and keep stirring. Let simmer 5 more minutes until the mixture is very bubbly, like soap suds.
5. Add the milk and spices. Stir regularly as the mixtures reduces, so it doesn’t burn for 5 more minutes. The caramelization is finished when you can scrape the sauce away cleanly from the bottom of the pot for a moment.
6. Plate the caramelized apples. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
For The Love of Apples
I think Link must really have a thing for apples. They’re the one thing available in great abundance over most of central Hyrule. For the plateau area, one might even consider them an essential starting ingredient.
I wonder what the apples in Hyrule taste like. Are they crispy and sweet? Are they tart and juicy? Given how many recipes from Breath of the Wild feature apples, Link must like them a lot. And what’s not to like? Their versatility sets them apart, as they can be prepared sweet or savoury. To boot, they’re great bait for quite a few koroks. The real question here is why do koroks like apples so much, and what do koroks look like while they’re eating apples??
Did you make these sliced caramel apples? Let me know!
Simmering Starfruit 
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