Planters Crème Brûlée Almonds

If almonds (yummy snack) and crème brulèe (yummy dessert) had a baby, do you think it would be something like this?

My mom bought this not only because it sounded interesting, but because it was on sale. There are some other “holiday themed” cans of nuts somewhere in the kitchen, but this was the only one on the counter.

I took a quick look at the canister:

California almonds with hints of sweet buttery crème brulèe flavor

Okay, that got my attention. But then right above it reads the dreaded A:

Natural and artificial flavor

Of course there’s artificial flavor… how else could you get those nuts tasting creamy and buttery and last a long time? I didn’t even have any yet, and I was already thinking the worst. But I had to try it, just to see. Time to open the canister.

It looks a lot like the honey roasted nuts they sell on the street (a guilty pleasure of mine). The suggested serving size is one ounce, or 18 pieces, which I tried to take out. Like any sweet coated nut, these were sticking, so I had to shake it a bit to free up the almonds.

Taste – The first thought was “ick… chemical taste!” Not the best way to start things off. Had a sip of water, and tried again. Creamy taste? Check. Buttery taste? Check check. Crème Brulèe flavor? Eh… not really. I couldn’t remember what crème brulèe tasted like, but it’s a flan… so it should remind me of that. But it didn’t. It reminded me of butterscotch, the butterscotch hard candies, to be exact. Which is okay… since I do like butterscotch. But you know that has to be the artificial part of this.

Smell - Just like butterscotch. So why call it crème brulèe when it smells and tastes like butterscotch? Perhaps it’s just me. Both Mags and my sister tried some, and couldn’t identify what it reminded them of. I kept pushing the butterscotch angle, but they weren’t too sure.

Aside from that, these nuts are pretty good. I tried my best to not like them, given the fake crap that’s on it… but I found myself going back for seconds. And thirds. I suppose I can let the fake slide. And it looks like Ford can too.