You’ve invited friends over for dinner. While you’re putting the finishing touches on the main meal you need an appetizer your guests can snack on. You’d love to serve something besides the usual cheese and crackers or chips and dip, but it needs to be quick and easy.
If you entertain a lot, you can never have enough simple and delicious appetizer recipes in your collection. Not only are they great to pull out for special get-togethers, but they can also be used for late night or after school snacks.
This Salted Caramel Apple Spread is great for entertaining because it can be prepared ahead of time and makes a pretty presentation. You can make your own caramel using the recipe below or try this Crockpot Caramel Sauce recipe. You can even super cheat and buy pre-made caramel. (I won’t tell!) Serve it with sliced green and red apples, and be prepared to share the recipe when your friends ask.
Salted Caramel Apple Spread
You’ll need a bar of cream cheese, heavy cream, butter, sugar, water, coarse sea salt, walnuts (optional) and sliced apples.
Place cream cheese in freezer for about 30 minutes. Slice frozen cream cheese to make two layers then return to freezer. Line bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper and spray the paper with non-stick spray.
Follow step by step instructions below to make caramel from scratch or use my simple Crockpot Caramel Sauce recipe to save time.
Place one layer of frozen cream cheese in center of pan. Pour caramel to completely coat layer. Place second layer on top of first and poor caramel to coat top layer. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts, if desired. Place in freezer for 10 minutes to quickly cool caramel then transfer to refrigerator for 2 hours or until ready to serve.
Transfer to a platter before serving accompanied with sliced apples.
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- ¼ cup Butter
- ¾ cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Water
- ¼ tsp Coarse Sea Salt
- 2 tbsp chopped Walnuts (optional)
- Place cream cheese in freezer for 30 minutes.
- Slice frozen cream cheese horizontally to make two layers. Return to freezer.
- Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper. Spray the paper with non-stick spray.
- Cut butter into slices and combine with cream. Microwave 1-2 minutes until butter is melted.
- In a medium to large saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water.
- Stir until the sugar is moistened and uniform. Be careful not to splash sugar onto the sides.
- Heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Cover with a lid for 1 minute (this will help wash any sugar on sides back into the pot).
- Remove lid and do not stir the after this point.
- Place the pot with the sugar mixture over medium to medium-high heat.
- Let the sugar syrup come to a boil without stirring.
- Cook until mixture reaches 320 degrees. The syrup will begin to darken slightly.
- Turn off the heat and slowly add the warm cream and butter mixture a little at a time while gently whisking. Careful, it will bubble violently.
- Turn burner back on to medium-high.
- Let the caramel come to a boil and reach 240 degrees without stirring.
- Remove from heat. Add sea salt and whisk until mixture cools to 150 degrees.
- Place one layer of frozen cream cheese in center of prepared pan.
- Pour caramel to completely coat layer.
- Place second layer on top of first and poor caramel to coat top layer.
- Sprinkle with chopped walnuts, if desired.
- Place in freezer for 10 minutes to quickly cool caramel then transfer to refrigerator for 2 hours.
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