Food Network

When the Food Network came knocking a few weeks ago, the attention was the delicious topping to a whirlwind of growth for La Verne-based Sinfully Sweet Apple Co., a two-year-old dessert maker.

The network is set to feature the caramel apple company on a show that debuted this week, "Kid in a Candy Store," which sends host Adam Gertler on a quest for the tastiest and most creative treats in the U.S.

The episode, "Eye Candy," was expected to air this week.

Neatly displayed in the store behind glass, in tantalizing rows, are no ordinary caramel-dipped apples on a stick.

Chocolates dyed in bright shades of pink, yellow and blue are used to coat the apples, along with toppings such as peanuts and cookie crumbs and sugar shapes, lend personalities to each creation.

The chocolates are flavored, a fact reflected in the apples' names - Lemon Pie, Grapple (a grape and apple combination), New York Cheesecake and Blue Hawaiian. An Elvis Presley apple pays homage to the king of rock and roll's fancy for peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

"We're taking caramel apples to the next level," owner and founder Martha Henderson said. "We're making them works of art."

Henderson, a La Verne resident and a grandmother, gains inspiration for her creations by walking down the supermarket baby aisle, where many juices and foods are apple-based. She first began making caramel apples as gifts for her co-workers at Caltech in

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Pasadena, where she works as a biology lab manager.
"Everyone said, `You need to do something with this,"' Henderson said.

She took the caramel apples to the Orange County Market Place in February 2008. After a Costco representative tasted Sinfully Sweet's desserts at its booth, the sweets were sold in the warehouse chain in April of last year.

Coast Magazine and Modern Bride featured the apple company. After working out of a rented kitchen, the La Verne store opened in October.

Cheryl Kling, a co-worker from Caltech who was laid off in March, also became an owner. Kling oversees the daily operations of the store.

Kling said the freshness of the Granny Smith apples, which are bought three or four times a week, sets the company apart from other caramel apple companies.

About half of the company's business comes from corporate clients and weddings. Last year, Sinfully Sweet created apples for AT&T's national employee appreciation day that matched the corporation's signature blue.

And the bulk of the company's patrons are not children, as one might expect, but those from the baby boomer generation, a group that remembers making caramel apples with the family while growing up, Henderson said.

"Everybody remembers caramel apples as a kid," Henderson said. "I think it's a comfort food. That's what we sell."