Working one apple at a time, peel, half and core apple and roll it in lemon juice to prevent browning.

To make the skulls, turn the half-apple so that the rounded sides of the apple lie up and down on your cutting board, creating a rounded top of the head and a rounded bottom. Trim off small wedges of the bottom by cutting at an angle to create the jaw of the skull.

Use a paring knife to cut out a small upside down heart to create the nose of the skull.

Use an apple corer to make the eye holes and scoop out the eyes.

Use a paring knife to score the the apple to make teeth. To make skulls with just the upper jaw, trim off a small bit of the bottom of the apple and score the teeth to the edge of the apple.

Roll in lemon juice again and place apple skull on a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat process with remaining apples.

Bake apples at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours until shrunken and wrinkled, but still chewy. Let apples cool while you prepare the cider.

While the cider simmers and when the rotten apples are cool enough to handle, add whole cloves to the eye sockets to give your heads some personality. Set aside.

Here's a shot of our little skull friend. He's all dried out and looks a bit rough, but once he's dropped into hot cider, he will soften up as he absorbs the liquid which will make him perfect for eating, just remove the cloves before taking a bite. :)

In a large pot, add apple juice/cider, brown sugar, and mulling spices wrapped in cheesecloth and heat to a simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Remove mulling spices and ladle hot mulled cider into mugs. Add 1/2 oz. of Bourbon or Spiced Rum and serve with a rotten apple skull and enjoy!