Nothing screams spooky season quite like caramel apples! With it officially September and a crisp chill hitting the New England air, I wanted to make something to capture the start of one of my favorite seasons...especially a delicious treat. So, my dad and I spent a fun day creating a mouthwatering board together with all the caramel apple (and nut free!) fixings.
I always love photographing with my dad, he is one of my biggest inspirations and taught me to cherish photography, so any chance I can get to take photos with him is always magical. He was a professional photographer for nearly three decades so his expertise and eye for the perfect shot helps capture each setup so beautifully
Now, for making a board at home, I'm excited to share some tips from choosing the right dishes and board to how to style your treats!
Picking the right board and dishes
With the spooky aesthetic, we knew we wanted to incorporate the cauldron bowls on the board along with the pumpkin dish I found at Home Sense for the black and orange theme we were going for.
It's important to not only overlap the food, but add height and organization with smaller dishes to give an even more layered look. The pumpkin dish also made the caramel stand out, and the cover added an additional whimsical touch to the board - plus, it was perfect for dipping the apple slices and other treats.
For the board, we wanted a more rustic look so choose this antique board that was the perfect size and large enough for all the caramel apple toppings. You can also uses a few smaller boards, a large circle one or any shape that fits the style you are going for.
Building your caramel apple board
You can never have enough toppings for a caramel apple board!! With George's nut allergy, I always stay away from anything with nuts, so I found some perfect alternatives:
- Apples (whole and sliced)
- Caramel
- Cider doughnuts
- Chocolate covered pretzels
- Halloween M&Ms
- Sour pumpkin gummies
- Candy corn
- Pretzels
- Kettle corn
- Graham Crackers
- Oreos
- Candy eyes for decoration
The board assembly is always a puzzle piece (but in a good way!). Start by laying out the assorted dishes and bowl sizes you want on your board, this will help you see the larger elements in their place but also where you need to fill in the gaps. Next, figure out what treats you want in the bowls - you really can't go wrong, but with food that you have more of such as popcorn I placed it in the larger cauldron knowing it took up more space.
Once all the food is in their respective dishes, I then placed the whole apples and larger food pieces like cider doughnuts and chocolate covered pretzels around the board in different clusters. I like having two to three different clusters of the same food to help layer the board. Finally, fill in the gaps with the smaller food items like candy corn, of course apple piles and it's even more beautiful if you have some of the food overlap on each other for a cohesive look.
