With Halloween fast approaching, the Candy Girls found themselves craving the delicious fall treat of caramel apples. They knew that Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory always had heaps of beautifully covered apples on display, but they never could have imagined the true bounty of caramel, chocolate and nut-covered goodness to be had there.
First Reactions: Upon entering the Writer's Square RMCF, at 1512 Larimer Street, we are instantly overcome with joy and amazement at the wide variety of flavors. Store manager Megan Vanoni tells us there are more than twenty varieties of caramel apples for sale in the store, in addition to cinnamon and cherry hard candy apples. The apples are sold year-round, but the store also has such seasonal specials as Halloween spider web apples, which are dipped in caramel and have dark chocolate webs painted on them.
Megan offers us a taste of a few of the apples, and we ask to try the Monster apple, the Cheesecake apple and the Peanut Butter Bomb.
The apples presented are ingeniously cut into nine sections, which not only allows for easier eating, but also a cross-section view of the work that goes into making these suckers. All of the apples are made in-house, with the caramel cooked up in a copper caldron.
Monster
The Monster is a Granny Smith apple dipped in caramel, rolled in pecans and covered in milk and white chocolate.
Liz: The texture is really nice, since the nuts break up the caramel and apple. It's a lot like a turtle wrapped around an apple.
Aubrey: And I love turtles, but of course, I'm more of a cashew or macadamia-nut turtle fan. The flavor is really nice, though, and it is definitely satisfying.
Liz: I like my turtles the traditional way, and I think this is delicious!
Cheesecake
The cheesecake apple is dipped in caramel and coated with white chocolate, graham crackers, cinnamon and brown sugar.
Aubrey: Do you taste cheesecake?
Liz: Hmmm, no, well, maybe? Yeah, it does taste like a cheesecake-coated apple.
Aubrey: This is much lighter than the monster. I like that the lighter coating of candy and chocolate lets more of the fresh taste of apple come through. This is closer to a traditional caramel apple, but still a fun variation.
Peanut Butter Bomb
This is the ultimate candy-covered apple. A caramel apple is rolled in mini Reese's Pieces, dipped in peanut butter white chocolate, rolled in peanuts and drizzled with dark chocolate.
Liz: This is a serious apple. Not the kind of food you can eat in the car.
Aubrey: Yeah, it definitely requires your full attention. And, oh, it is so rich and delicious.
Liz: All the peanut butter, chocolate and caramel work great together, but this is sure one huge apple.
Aubrey: I think we would have to share this with six friends to finish it. Each slice is just covered with candy. I bet this whole apple is the equivalent of at least six candy bars worth of chocolate, caramel and peanut butter. Yum!
Conclusions: With every imaginable topping available -- from basic caramel to triple chocolate to macadamia nut coconut -- there is a caramel apple here for everyone. The prices vary, from $6.50 for the Cheesecake apple to $7.95 for the Monster to $9.95 for the Peanut Butter Bomb, and many of these can definitely be shared, although they are good enough to keep all to yourself.
The Writer's Square Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has been owned by Don Marsh for eighteen years, and in addition to making all of its own chocolates, truffles, fudges and apples in house, it also makes its own gelato. We got a taste of pumpkin pie gelato, which is a great seasonal treat for those looking for an alternative to chocolate and caramel.
-- Aubrey and Liz
