I was inspired by this recipe. It is representative of fall for me (although I never eat them). This morning was the first cool morning for Austin (with a low of 36 degrees Fahrenheit). Perhaps that put me into the mood? Anyways… So I went to the store and bought the necessary ingredients (forgetting, of course, the Popsicle sticks): honey, heavy cream, salt, and apples. I spied some Grāpples and thought that they smelled good. Just like grapes! Stupid me though, did not fully read the label or ingredient list. Afterward, I notice that the second and third ingredients are “natural grape flavor” and “artificial grape flavor.” WTF?! I mistakenly assumed that it was an apple/grape hybrid. Sigh.

Also, does H.E.B. carry unwaxed apples? I scrubbed them down with a sponge and hoped that I removed all of the wax. But it didn’t feel that way. Sigh redux.

I normally make caramel by first melting dry sugar until it browns and then by adding the cream to it. Which is a rather extreme and time-consuming method. That sugar locks up solid from the temperature shock. But it eventually melts back into a liquid. This recipe starts with the cream and honey added together, boiling the water out of the mixture, and stopping when it reaches hard-ball stage.

I don’t know which method is easier. The liquid mixture has a lot of proteins in it. So it can boil over if you don’t watch it. In fact, it boil over as you watch it. Just to spite you. And it takes a while to fully cook. At least thirty minutes. Of stirring.

This picture was challenging. I am still not satisfied with it. I took twelve different frames and I messed with the light meter before I got all of the settings correct. There are so many variables to account for! I ended up with an ISO of 50, a shutter speed of 1/80 second, and an aperture of 5.6. I wanted to reduce the depth of field down to f/2.8 or even f/1.4, but my setup was pumping out too much light! If only the camera had an ISO value of 12.5.

Also, my off-axis flash highlight was too harsh. I needed to use a softbox. But I didn’t want to go through the effort to make that happen.

All those pictures took 24 minutes. Which is a lifetime in food photography. A pipping hot apple turns into a cold, and sagging apple with condensation on it…