Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Lightly coat with non-stick spray or a neutral-tasting oil, such as sunflower seed. Set aside a small, heat-safe bowl to put the caramel in later.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the sugar, water, lemon, vanilla bean seeds and pod, and salt and gently stir until dissolved. This should take about 3 to 5 minutes. Continue with the pan over medium heat and cook for 12 to 15 minutes more or until the liquid has turned a dark bronze and you start to see the smallest bit of smoke. It was also smell of toasted marshmallows. Do not stir or fuss with it during this time. If the edge of the pan starts to look burnt, turn the heat down a touch.

When ready, slowly pour in the cream. It will hiss and bubble and generally seem quite angry. That’s fine. Continue over medium to medium low heat, occasionally stirring, until the mixture reaches 245 to 250F (118 to 121C). This takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Pour into a small, heat-safe bowl and stir to cool it a bit. You want it thick enough to stay on the apple and yet still liquid enough to swirl your apple in there.

Press a stick into the apple, near the stem and then dip it in the caramel, turning to coat several times. Life it out of the caramel, letting some of the excess fall back in the bowl and then invert the apple so that some of it starts to drip towards the top of the apple. Once it’s there, turn the apple right-side up. Do this several times as the caramel starts to cool and set. The more you do the, the less pooling you will have at the base of the apples.

You can eat them immediately, save them for later. For same day eating they can be left at room temperature. If you’ve made them ahead of time, then stash, covered, in the fridge for up to several days.