The candied apple—that shiny, cherry-red treat—was never actually meant to be edible.

Candymaker William Kolb first made them in 1908 as a window display for his Newark, NJ, confectionary shop. At the time, he was experimenting with red cinnamon candy to sell at Christmas and decided the glazed apples would be an enticing way to showcase his sweet. Kolb speared apples with sticks, dipped them into the glaze, then arranged them in his display window.

To his surprise, passersby wanted to buy the apples, so he sold them at five cents apiece. The crackly creations were soon selling by the thousands, before becoming a circus staple and boardwalk treat—and then a part of Halloween history.

These days the mirrored red orbs are still popular at the height of apple season. You can get them all over town, from Kilwins in Fells Point to pretty much any local grocery store. And while you can sometimes find them drizzled with chocolate (or their caramel cousins coated in nuts), the original stop-sign red apples at Woodlea Bakery, pictured above, have remained unchanged since the store first opened in 1943.

Most recipes for the glaze contain the same ingredients—a mix of water, corn syrup, sugar, cherry flavor, red food dye, and cinnamon—but Woodlea sets itself apart by using high-quality fruit.

“We buy fresh apples from the orchards,” says Charles Hergenroeder, the fourth-generation owner of the Baltimore bakery. “Once peaches roll out and fresh apples arrive in the first week of October, we start making apples. We get them from local orchards like Shaw, Baugher’s, or Susquehanna.”

In season, Woodlea sells some 80 apples a day between the original location in Gardenville and their second shop in Bel Air.

“Of course, the week of Halloween, we sell a lot more,” says Hergenroeder. “The adults buy more for themselves than for their kids.”

SugarBaker’s Cakes

752 Frederick Rd., Catonsville, 410-788-9478.

Owner
Jamie Williams has gotten lots of exposure for her edible works of arts
in bridal magazines, on TV shows (Today and Whose Wedding Is It
Anyway?), and through celebrity wedding gigs (though she doesn’t bake
and tell). She also runs a bustling retail business in Catonsville.
Selections change daily, but if you’re lucky, the Smith Island cake
(yellow cake with fudge icing and melted peanut-butter cups) or the
country carrot cake will be available in the display case.

Editor’s pick: Amaretto-raspberry cake—almond cake infused with a layer of amaretto buttercream and raspberry filling.

Charm City Cakes

2936 Remington Ave., 410-235-9229.

Back
when most cakes were baked in rounds or squares, Charm City Cakes was
thinking outside the (cake) box with a King Tut sarcophagus cake and an
edible facsimile of Hogwarts Castle. Duff Goldman et al still specialize
in edible masterpieces, but for those of us who don’t necessarily need a
culinary replica of the Millennium Falcon, “cake jars”—filled with
pecan pie and dozens of other flavors—are on hand for $9.

Editor’s pick: Pumpkin chocolate-chip cake with Swiss buttercream.

Hamilton Bakery

5414 Harford Rd., 410-254-0797.

With
its retro décor and amiable employees, the bakery may seem low-key, but
there’s nothing simple about its very serious selection of
confections—like round layer cakes in red velvet, German chocolate,
Black Forest, and coconut, to name a few.

Editor’s pick:
Chocolate Overload cake—a three-layer chocolate cake with chocolate
mousse and chocolate ganache smothered in chocolate buttercream and
finished with chocolate ganache.

Woodlea Bakery

Several locations including 4905 Belair Rd., 410-488-7717.

Not
much has changed here since opening day in 1943—and that’s a good
thing. Owned by the Hergenroeder family and now in its fourth
generation, this is a neighborhood bakery at its best—with an
eager-to-help staff and prices from yesteryear. (A pineapple upside-down
cake rings in at $7.95, for example.)

Editor’s pick: German chocolate cake.

Yia Yia’s Bakery

9415 Philadelphia Rd., 410-238-2253.

Double
T Diner’s John, Louis, and Tom Korologos are the masterminds behind the
over-the-top desserts at Yia Yia’s. (The name is Greek for
grandmother.) You’ll find towering cakes of coconut, aromatic passion
fruit, and a Black Forest version with alternating layers of yellow and
chocolate cake.

Editor’s pick: The strawberry New York-style cheesecake with fresh glazed berries.

Layered Past Fun Fact

In
the 1800s, Smith Island natives sent these cakes with the waterman on
the autumn oyster harvest. Fudge was used instead of buttercream
frosting in order to preserve freshness longer.

Birthday Candle Record

48: Record-holding number of candles, in thousands, on a birthday cake (48,523 to be exact).*

*According to Guinness World Records.