Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Affy Tapples

Have you noticed that Affy Tapples, the brand, are getting smaller and smaller as the years go by? They're almost crabapple sized these days. Not only that, but by now, in the middle of November, they're kind of mealy when you bite into them.  In fact, they're kind of mealy when you bite into them anytime.

Which has made me an aficionada of sorts. I started out with an early appreciation for giant caramel, not taffy, apples covered in nuts. Especially really crisp, tart green apples, rich, homemade, not Kraft, caramel and, freshly chopped nuts. Until I accidentally tasted a caramel apple rolled in crushed toffee bits. They look alike. But they sure don't taste the same.

Imagine my thrill upon discovering that my grocery store now makes them fresh on the premises throughout the Halloween season, which, in Chicago, ends after the circus leaves town in about a week. So, a couple of days ago during my bi weekly stop at the deli counter I picked up one of my favorite apple treats and couldn't wait to have time to eat it, since they're really large.

Having the day off helped. But I waited until after lunch to take the first bite, a moment I had anticipated for at least 48 hours.

ACK. The apple was crisp and tart. The caramel was delicious. But the toffee wasn't toffee; it was nuts. Here I had my taste buds primed and ready for the delicious sweetness of toffee pieces and what do I get but nuts. Do you have any idea how icky nuts taste when you're expecting toffee?  I guess I have to start wearing my reading glasses when I go shopping.

Somehow I'll manage to finish it. But oh, the disappointment.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Caramel apples with nuts are my personal favorite!  I only have them when I make my annual trek to the state fair.

Anonymous said...

On the rare occasion that I have to get an Affy Tapple, I just scrape the outside off so that I don't have to eat the apple.  They kill my teeth.  Yeah, I know, strange.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree! But now I go to Plush Horse or Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory...there is one in Naperville! They have HUGE ones & you can get them sprinkled with almost anything. I never had one with toffee?!

http://www.rmcf.com/cp/shop/apples_fudge/apples.asp?

Anonymous said...

My overall temptation to comment about the surprise taste of nuts in your mouth is somewhat overcome by the imagery of your disappointment.

I'll manage somehow.

Anonymous said...

Caramel apples--yum.
I've never had one with toffee bits on the outside, and that sounds good too.  But I rarely eat these kinds of things anymore.

It's not the surprise taste of nuts in my mouth that worries me--it's the fear that I will leave a tooth behind that keeps me from taking a great big bite.
Anna