Eddie, my city neighbor and one of the best human beings I’ve ever known brought me a big bag of apples from his farm in upstate New York last week.  He also gifted us with a huge container of homemade applesauce made from these very same apples which I put in the freezer to make an applesauce cake.  I was going to make a pie with the apples, but they were so good we had them as is – oft times with a bit of cheese for dessert.  Then, we took a trip upstate and what did we find but an overload of wild apples hanging from the branches of every tree that nature had brought forth on our friends acres of farmland.  So, we picked more.  I made apple butter (for the recipe see my post of September 29, 2010) as well as cooked some down to make a favorite old-time candy, applets, as I get nearer to my holiday gifting time.  Don’t have a photo to show you how the candy looks but here is the recipe.

1 cup grated sweet apples

2 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon rose extract or to taste

Confectioners’ sugar to coat

Combine the apples and sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil for exactly 1 minute.  Then, lower the heat and cook, at a bare simmer, for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Generously butter an 8-inch square baking pan.  Set aside.

When the apples have cooked for 30 minutes, remove from the heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in 5 tablespoons cold water.  When completely dissolved, stir the gelatin mixture into the apple mixture.  Stirring constantly, beat in the nuts and extract.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top with an offset spatula.  Set aside to cool and set for 2 hours or until firm and cool.

Place the confectioners’ sugar in a large shallow bowl.

When the candy has cooled, cut into ½ -inch squares, roll in the confectioners’ sugar to coat all sides.  Set aside until completely dry.

When dry, wrap each candy, individually, in plastic film and store, covered, for up to 2 weeks.