Chocolate Caramel Apple Cats

These adorable Chocolate Caramel Apple Cats are the purr-fect dessert for Halloween. Each chocolate-coated caramel apple can be decorated to look like a cute or spooky black cat.

Have you ever decorated a caramel apple? I recently shared a recipe to make Caramel Apple Cauldrons and had so much fun creating them that I couldn't wait to share another decorating idea.

Black cats are synonymous with Halloween so I chose to make a caramel apple cat that's covered in furry-looking chocolate ganache.

The chocolate ganache takes the flavor of the caramel apple to a whole new level. It's a grown-up treat that kids will love too.

The chocolate cats are decorated using modeling chocolate, also known as candy clay. It's easy to make using chocolate and corn syrup. It is easy to sculpt into shapes and it tastes like a chocolate or vanilla Tootsie Roll.

Be sure to check out my Modeling Chocolate Recipe before you begin.

Chocolate Caramel Apple Cats

Ingredients

caramel apples (homemade or store-bought)
dark chocolate, finely chopped
heavy whipping cream
light corn syrup

Decorations

white modeling chocolate
dark modeling chocolate
pink, yellow, and bright green modeling chocolate - See my How To Color Modeling Chocolate tutorial for instructions.

Supplies

food processor or a mixing bowl and a spatula or spoon
Silpat non-stick liner, a non-stick baking sheet, or a piece of parchment paper
small round and oval cookie cutters, optional
rolling pin
pizza cutter or knife
Sculpy clay extuder, optional

Instructions

Make chocolate ganache.

To use a food processor to make your ganache, start by placing chopped chocolate in the bowl. Pulse until the chocolate is fine crumbs.

Heat heavy whipping cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir often until it just comes to a boil.

Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, put the lid on the food processor bowl, and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Pulse for 5 seconds. Remove the lid and scrape down the sides and bottom of the food processor bowl. Return the lid and pulse for 5 more seconds or until the mixture, which is called ganache, is smooth.

Don't over-mix your ganache or it will turn grainy as it sets up.

Or make ganache in a bowl.

Finely chop your chocolate and put it in a microwave-safe mixing bowl.

Heat the cream as above and pour it over the chocolate and let sit for 2-3 minutes.

Use a whisk to create an emulsion. Begin by stirring just in the center of the bowl, then slowly bring the whisk out to the edge of the bowl. Stir just until combined and the ganache is smooth.

If you have chunks of chocolate remaining, place the entire bowl in the microwave and heat on high for 10 seconds. Stir until melted.

Trouble Shooting Ganache: If your ganache gets too hot the cocoa butter from the chocolate will separate and rise to the surface. The cocoa butter will harden as the ganache cools and you will have chunks of cocoa butter throughout. This can happen if you add cream that is too hot or get the ganache too hot in the microwave.

If your ganache does separate or look oily, add a little cold whipping cream (a tablespoon at a time) and mix until smooth.

Allow the ganache to thicken.

Allow the ganache to cool until it thickens.

You will be frosting your caramel apples, so you need the ganache to cool enough that it thickens like frosting. The ganache pictured above needs to cool longer. This may take up to an hour.

Meanwhile, you can make your cat's eyes, nose, ears, and whiskers.

Make the modeling chocolate decorations.

If your modeling chocolate is hard, knead it until it softens. If it is too soft, set it aside until it cools off and firms up.

Cat Nose

Roll some pink modeling chocolate into a ball then flatten it into a triangular-shaped nose.

Cat Ears

Roll out dark modeling chocolate to ⅛-inch thickness and cut into triangle-shaped ears. Or shape it by hand just be sure the ears are thick enough that they will hold their shape when standing upright.

Do the same using pink modeling chocolate making the triangles smaller so they fit inside the dark ear.

Attach the pieces of modeling chocolate to each other by dabbing a very small amount of water on one piece and pressing them together.

Cat Eyes

Roll out white, yellow, or bright green modeling chocolate to about 1/16-inch thickness. Cut out circles using a round cutter. The size will be dependent on the size of your caramel apples. Mine were about an inch.

Then roll out dark modeling chocolate and cut it into circles or ovals to make the pupils.

Attach the pupil to the eye using a small bit of water.

Whiskers

Roll out white modeling chocolate and cut out long, narrow strips. Or use a clay extruder to create the whiskers.

I use a Sculpey Clay Extruder to make a lot of decorative pieces out of modeling chocolate. The clay extruders can be found at your local craft stores in the clay aisle.

To use, attach the metal disc with the appropriate hole (the one I used in this picture makes a flat strip, roll some modeling chocolate into a log, place it in the clay extruder tube, insert the plunger, and press the modeling chocolate out onto your work surface.

Frost caramel apple with chocolate ganache.

Allow your ganache to thicken just enough so that it is the consistency of frosting.

Set your caramel apple on a Silpat, a non-stick baking sheet, or a piece of parchment paper. If your caramel apples have a footer (a round bottom where the caramel has puddled) use a knife or kitchen shears to cut it off.

Use your hands to round the bottom of the apple. This will ensure a nice round face for your cats.

Now, frost one of your caramel apples with the ganache.

Make the chocolate look furry.

Once each apple is frosted you'll want to create the cat's fur by pressing an offset spatula, knife, or spoon, onto the ganache and quickly pulling it away creating spikes.

If the ganache is not thick enough, the spikes won't form, so let it sit for a few minutes to thicken.

If the ganache is too dry, the spikes will get crusty, so be sure to do one apple at a time.

Recipe