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Photographer: Kevin A. Roberts
Cyndawg's Classic Caramel apple from Rebel Roots
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Photographer: Kevin A. Roberts
The bellwether: Merb's Bionic Apple
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Photographer: Kevin A. Roberts
Bobby's Caramel Pecan Apple (left) bears a striking resemblance to Merb's (right).
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Photographer: Kevin A. Roberts
El Palenque's offerings: La Tortuga (The Turtle), The Ultimate Apple, and Caramel with Pecans.
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Photographer: Kevin A. Roberts
Chai Spice/Gingerbread Crumble, Rosemary & Cashew, and Cyndawg's Classic Caramel, all from Rebel Roots.
Sticky and sugary caramel over apples, tart to sweet, brings fall into delicious focus from September to November. Great caramel apples aren’t mass-produced; they are hand-dipped in caramel, rich with sugar, butter and cream, often from decades-old family recipes. Top that caramel? You bet, and we’re not just talking nuts. We’ll walk you through the apple circuit to the find best apples in the region.
Merb’s Bionic Apples
Time was St. Louis had just one iconic choice: Merb’s Bionic Apple, the gold standard, the sentimental favorite and a hometown legend. The caramel, rich with whipping cream, covers a crisp, tart Granny Smith apple big as a softball. Chopped pecans stick all over the bottom half. Merb’s apples don’t disappoint.
The apples sit tall, shoulder-to-shoulder, on counters at all three locations of Merb's Candies. They’re also available at area Dierbergs stores, but a visit the flagship store on South Grand delivers more than terrific apples.
To step into the original Merb’s is to walk back in time. The gracious brick building with chocolate-and-cream striped awnings sports a two-story painted sign on the south brick wall reminiscent of turn of the century shop signs. Notice the mid-century modernist neon sign, the wood and glass door with its gleaming brass handle, and the canted tile entrance. It’s worth the trek to far south St. Louis to see an old-fashioned confectionary.
El Palenque Mexican Restaurant, Caramel Apples in Three Styles: Caramel with Pecans, The Ultimate Apple, and La Tortuga (The Turtle)
Joel Flores didn’t come to St. Louis to start a restaurant that delivers the fresh flavors of Mexico on a plate. He came to town to work for Bissinger’s Candies.
Flores, who is a native of Mexico, learned to make fine candies at a culinary school in Chicago. He stayed in Chicago for twenty-five years, practicing his craft at a high-end candy company.
Eight years ago, he and his wife Maria their children and extended family members opened El Palenque Restaurant in Ferguson where they offer home-style Mexican food in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Joel Flores continued to make his hand-dipped chocolates, fudge, caramels and candies from Halloween to Easter each year, which he sold from a small case at the front of the restaurant.
He also made caramel apples. His customers went wild for them. “I use all my own recipes, including the caramel. We make them with pecans, with chocolate and with both pecans and chocolate, La Tortuga, the turtle. Like the turtle candies.”
Flores also custom makes caramel-only apples for customers who can’t tolerate nuts. Each apple is thickly coated with caramel. It’s soft and pliant, with a nice viscosity and an exceptionally creamy mouth feel. The apples often sell out each week of the season, so shop early. If that happens, buy chocolates, or fudge or try a sweet dessert, like the chocolate fried ice cream topped with homemade chocolate sauce.
Rebel Roots – When Family Tradition Meets Culinary Adventuress, Caramel Apples Sparkle and Pop
Amelia Kargas cut her teeth on her mom’s caramel apples. Her grandmother started the caramel apple tradition in the family, whipping up a special recipe for caramel that her granddaughter follows today – sort of. She’s a rebel at heart. And there it is... Rebel Roots.
She infuses her caramel coatings. She sources her apples locally, matching the taste profiles of each particular apple variety to the infusions, the toppings, the crunch bits, herbs, spices and extras.
The combinations stagger the imagination, like gingerbread caramel with crunchy crumbles made from her grandmother’s gingerbread cake recipe, striped with marshmallow drizzle. She makes Thai caramel apples with Sriracha roasted peanuts and toasted coconut, and maple caramel with praline bacon crumble. You can find her creations listed on her website, but you can only find her apples in two places – for now.
Look for her on Thursdays, from noon to 3 p.m., at Sump Coffee, where her fine apples complement the lunch offerings of Kitchen Kulture. On Saturdays, she sells at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market from 8 a.m. to noon. Short, but very sweet.
Give her time, though, and Rebel Roots just may morph into something else. Kargas, a registered dietitian, is still in her master’s program in Nutrition and Dietetic with a Culinary Emphasis at St. Louis University. Getting Rebel Roots up and running is part of her master’s thesis.
Things change up pretty quickly when a culinary rebel is in charge, so shop with an open mind. You might not hit the Curry-Cashew praline apple the week you visit Kargas. She brings three different apples to both venues each week. Let the adventure begin.
Bobby’s Caramel Apples Have Arrived
Bobby Kozyak’s main business isn’t apples, although his operation hums from August through November turning thousands of brightly green and tart Granny Smith apples into caramel-jacketed goodness rolled round in meaty cut pecans.
Kozyak is a frozen custard guy at heart. Bobby’s Frozen Custard stand on Route 159 in Maryville, Illinois lights up the nights with neon bright rings on the spacy-looking lozenge of a building The Pink Ladies and the T-Birds would have loved.
You can take a road trip to Maryville to buy Bobby’s Caramel Apples, but you can cruise the aisles of the produce departments at Schnucks and Shop and Save if you don’t feel like driving. You may have to ask for them. They often sell out. The season ends in early November, so don’t miss out. Shop soon.
