Momma Told Me: Poisoned Pepper Candy Apples + Heads Up 7Up Punch Recipes #DrinkTEN

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Poisoned Pepper Candy Apples + Heads Up 7Up Punch Recipes #DrinkTEN

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Momma Told Me: Just try it, you might be surprised!

Growing up, Momma was a wizard in the kitchen. She excelled at taking ordinary, boring, ingredients and transforming them into fun and exciting new dishes. What I especially loved was the way she'd play with well known and loved flavors and treats to make something illogical in presentation and taste. Every year my friends and I would request her famous April Fool's 'Hamburgers,' made with a brownie 'patty,' sweet brioche 'bun,' frosting 'ketchup and mustard,' and shredded coconut 'lettuce.' It never got old eating dessert for lunch on April 1st, and it's a tradition I try to take into my kitchen to this day. And this Halloween, when I'm serving up delicious TEN varieties, like Dr Pepper TEN and Canada Dry TEN, I'll feel especially tricky myself knowing that I'm serving them all of their favorite soda flavor, with just 10 calories per serving.
All the BOLD flavor, no words needed....#drinkTEN #shop
Speaking of flavor, Dr Pepper is no stranger- with it's blend of 23 distinct flavors (some of them quite unexpected themselves) it's an International favorite with a cult following. I should know, Jay and his buddy are constant hunting down Dr Pepper flavored products and recipes to post on Instagram. And if you didn't think he was 'Super Fan' enough, check out the finish shot from our recent trip to the 2014 Ventura Color Run! Does the can look a little 'different' to you? That's because the Dr Pepper TEN variety is one of 4 TEN varieties taking popular soda brand flavors and twisting them upside down with just TEN calories per serving. All the flavor, not guilt!
Sparkling Dr Pepper TEN JELL-O Worms Made with sugar-free JELL-O, Dr Pepper TEN, Gelatin, and Heavy Whipping Cream. #DrinkTEN #shop
Sparkling Dr Pepper TEN JELL-O Worms Made with sugar-free JELL-O, Dr Pepper TEN, Gelatin, and Heavy Whipping Cream. #DrinkTEN #shop
As you can see, we don't need an excuse to #drinkTEN sodas, but I was a bit inspired by Momma to bring home some of my own unique flavor and fun to our upcoming Halloween bash. While at our local Kroger, stocking up on 7UP TEN, A&W TEN, and Dr Pepper TEN, for our guests, I also grabbed a few harmless apples and some gelatin for a 'mad scientist' kitchen creation, or two, of my own. My first order of business? Combining sugar free-JELLO, a packet of gelatin, heavy whipping cream, and Dr Pepper TEN to mold some frightfully delicious Cherry Dr Pepper gelatin worms for our punch.
Homemade caramel- sugar melting. #DrinkTEN #shop
Having dabbled with, and enjoyed great success, on the topic of cooking with soda, I became determined to find a suitable recipe to craft a homemade caramel dip for our candy apples. Dr Pepper s known for it's bold sweet and tangy flavors and often lends itself to caramel notes. Baking with a TEN soda was bound to be a little tricky in texture, but I was fairly surprised with our success. You'll find the complete recipe, down below; but I'll give you the basic rundown of the process. One begins by bringing sugar to a melt in a heavy saucepan, over medium heat. Once the sugar begins to turn clear around the edges a constant stir is required to keep the sugar from melting.
Dr Pepper TEN Caramel Syrup for dipping candied apples. #DrinkTEN #shop
When the sugar has dissolved into an even, light brown, consistency, begin adding the cream a little at a time. The mixture will bubble up a bit so it is important that you stir between pours until all of the cream is introduced and the mixture is even. At this time you will add some of your Dr Pepper TEN- just a little goes a long way to add flavor and tint to your caramel base. You may add red food coloring if you desire a color a little richer. Lastly, add honey and salt, stirring over medium-high heat until your caramel has reached the soft ball stage (about 225F.) Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Caramel will thicken as it cools.
Dr Pepper TEN Caramel Syrup #DrinkTEN #shop
Dipping your apples with a homemade caramel can prove tricky. If you wait too long the caramel can get thick and tough to work with- thankfully, the Dr Pepper TEN variety helps keep this caramel on the fluid side. I chilled my apples in the freezer while I prepared my caramel to help the dip set faster. When dipping your apples use a gentle twisting motion, with the apple at an angle, to help coat the entire apple from top to bottom. Store dipped apples on wax or parchment paper. Some caramel will run down and pool at the bottom, and you may desire to dip the apple a second time, after cooling. Be sure to let your dipped apples chill before adding and decorative chocolate drizzle, as extra heat could cause decorations to run.
Poisoned Pepper Candy Apples made with Dr Pepper TEN #DrinkTEN #shopPoisoned Pepper Candy Apples made with Dr Pepper TEN #DrinkTEN #shop
With our Poisoned Pepper Apples ready to be plated (do not cut apples until you are ready to serve, as they will brown quickly once they touch air,) I began working on the rest of our table's setup. Though this was a stage run, for the following weekend, the apples will store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, in cellophane bags or uncovered; so I was free to play with my punch recipe and decorations. I took a few large mason jars and affixed some fun labels to them, then layered them with tapioca pudding, slices of zucchini 'fingers' and tomato 'brains' to make a devilish jar of mad scientist leftovers. The pudding really clumped in the dyed water base for maximum effect.
Heads Up 7 Up Zombie Punch- Strawberry Sherbert and Green 7Up TEN with JELLO Worms- Sparkling Dr Pepper TEN JELL-O Worms Made with sugar-free JELL-O, Dr Pepper TEN, Gelatin, and Heavy Whipping Cream. #DrinkTEN #shop
We had a few plastic test tubes laying around so I filled them half with cooking oil and half with red colored water to make some vials of blood the kids would love playing with. The result is quite mesmerizing (think of one of those colored oil frames from the 90s.) For our 'punch' we used some plastic beakers filled with ice to offer a special drink in addition to our cans of TEN beverages. I topped each beaker off with a scoop of organic strawberry sorbet (the perfect texture of brains with it's clumps of strawberry seeds!)
Heads Up 7 Up Zombie Punch- Strawberry Sherbert and Green 7Up TEN with JELLO Worms- Sparkling Dr Pepper TEN JELL-O Worms Made with sugar-free JELL-O, Dr Pepper TEN, Gelatin, and Heavy Whipping Cream. #DrinkTEN #shop
Adding a little bit of green food coloring (just a few drops) to a 2 liter of 7UP TEN really gave our 'punch' a great color when poured atop the sherbert brains. Lastly, our JELLO Dr Pepper TEN worms turned out an equally creepy mauve color, with slippery, wriggly, texture to top our brains! The result was a creepy, delicious, Heads Up 7UP Zombie inspired Punch perfect for ghouls and goblins of all ages. Naturally, this could be adapted into a shooter if one wishes, though I quite find it intimidating enough with the jiggling worms and fizzing brains!
Heads Up 7 Up Zombie Punch- Strawberry Sherbert and Green 7Up TEN with JELLO Worms- Sparkling Dr Pepper TEN JELL-O Worms Made with sugar-free JELL-O, Dr Pepper TEN, Gelatin, and Heavy Whipping Cream. #DrinkTEN #shop
The moral of the story, folks? It can be awful fun to play around with flavors and textures to deceive the eyes and palette. If the TEN range of beverages is any testament, with their bold flavor at just TEN calories, then you don't need an excuse to pick up that Zombie Punch and give it a whirl. Not everything that sounds scary is quite so terrifying- why not pick up your favorite soda in it's TEN variety, from a Kroger, today and see what other delights you can bring to your guests this Halloween? Check out more low calorie recipes and pairings on the TEN Weeks of TEN Pinterest board!

Do you like to play tricks with your treats when entertaining? What's your secret to flavorful fun?

What Daughter Says: Not everything different is quite so wicked, find new ways to enjoy your favorite flavors.





Poisoned Pepper Candy Apples made with Dr Pepper TEN #DrinkTEN #shop
Poisoned Pepper Apples- AKA Dr Pepper Candy Apples
Heads Up 7 Up Zombie Punch- Strawberry Sherbert and Green 7Up TEN with JELLO Worms- Sparkling Dr Pepper TEN JELL-O Worms Made with sugar-free JELL-O, Dr Pepper TEN, Gelatin, and Heavy Whipping Cream. #DrinkTEN #shop 
Heads Up 7Up Zombie Punch with JELL-O Worms
***Click here for printable worms and punch recipe.

39 comments:

  1. You are so creative. I love how they turned out. Totally awesome.

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  2. Omgosh, I love this! Too fun. We host a Halloween party every year - these are great ideas!

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  3. What great ideas! Both of these sound delicious, and they look so fun.

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  4. Your poisoned apples look like they were store bought! So yummy I wanted to lick the screen lol

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  5. Using the Dr Pepper TEN in the candied apple recipe was genius! I bet the flavor was amazing, too. (I love Dr. Pepper!) And they turned out so pretty. You could also do those for Christmas, but change the name, obviously. I also loved all your cool accessories. Where did you get those straws?

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  6. So true! You never know until you try it and those apple look amazing! Wow!

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  7. The poisoned peppered apples sound awesome! I just bought Dr. Pepper 10 the other day. It's soooo good! Dr. Pepper is huge here in Dallas. Pretty much every restaurant offers Dr. Pepper. It's a regional thing that I love.

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  8. Those are amazing photographs! The apple looks professionally done and I bet they were a HUGE hit!

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  9. Your mom sounds like a ton of fun and now you're following in her footsteps. Being in West Texas Dr Pepper is a big deal here. I think I am the only one in my family who doesn't prefer it. I think I am going to make one of these treats for Friday. Maybe the apples. Hmmmm...my kids and my hubby will be in 7th heaven.

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  10. These are all great treats to make for this Halloween. I like the candy apple recipe. I will have to try it.

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  11. These are some neat treats. Dr Pepper Ten is my favorite. I will have to play around with it with my baking.

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  12. How do you manage to make such awesome stuff?! That looks so awesome, I'd want some.

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  13. I'm not much of a trick player. I guess the closest I came was when I made a meatloaf "cake" with mashed potato "icing"

    Your punch looks really great, worms notwithstanding.

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  14. Oh wow, you came up with some really neat ideas. I especially love the apples (and Dr. Pepper).

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  15. You are so creative and come up with the neatest things! They turned out great!

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  16. i do like to play tricks with my food. Some of the scariest I have made are Hot Dog octopus and Hot worms.

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  17. Like the trick on using Dr. Pepper for caramel apples. Looks like you're ready for the party!

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  18. These are so fun!!! I love the idea of putting Dr Pepper Ten in your caramel for the apples

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  19. Your apples and zombie punch look like so much fun to serve at Halloween parties. I never would have thought to use Dr. Pepper in these ways. Wow!

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  20. I love the candy apples i will have to try to make them. The worms are such a easy way to make worms.

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  21. How yummy! Your poison apples are seriously photo worthy.

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  22. I am a not a huge treak-or-treater, but your deliciousness is making me seriously hungry for some creepy yuminess. Poison apple seems like something out of this world - can I have it? It is pretty awesome how much you can do with Dr Pepper - I had no idea!

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  23. What fun treats. I don't usually drink soda, but the candy apple option seems like a really cool use of Dr. Pepper. Love your photos. Amazing!

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  24. Al of these treats are so awesome and totally Halloween perfect! I pinned them so I would remember to make them. Thanks!

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  25. I think it's really very clever how you made those creepy, yet yummy looking worms. Great ideas. I pinned this for later.

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  26. This post is AMAZING! You are so creative!!!! Love the GIFs too! Nice job! #client

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  27. What a cute idea that turned out really well. I love all of the creative things that I see on your site.

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  28. Wow you are very creative. I love the way the worms turned out. Very neat.

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  29. you are so creative! What fun and clever ideas!

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  30. Wow, you are insanely creative. #holymoley I don't think I could bring myself to go anywhere near those drinks at the ends, because of the worms. CREEPY!!! Great job!

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  31. Wow those are some wicked ideas! I'd love to see that hamburger you talked about too!

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  32. This is the most delicious and festive post! These pictures just make me happy!!

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  33. Wow, what a party! That Poisoned Pepper Apple looks divine! I gotta try it!

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  34. These are AMAZING! Those worms do look creepy! #client

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  35. MAN THIS LOOKS GREAT I GOT TO TRY IT.......THANKS!!!!!!

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  36. This is Great can't wait to try it with my grand children....THANK YOU

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  37. Oh wow, so talented. Great ideas to try out.

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  38. TRIED THE APPLES AND MY TWO KIDS LOVE THEM AND SO DO I !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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