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MAPLE SYRUP- TODAY'S STORY Maple sugaring today has its roots in the methods
learned from the Native American Indians by the early settlers. Much of today's sugaring is the same as it was three hundred years ago. The syrup is still made from the sap of the sugar maple. The sap is boiled over a heat
source of some type until the proper amount of water has been removed. The biggest changes from old methods are in the ways that the sap is gathered from the trees. Now, instead of hanging thousands of buckets on the trees,
most sugarmakers use a system of approved food-grade plastic tubing that connects all the trees to larger pipelines that Run downhill to a sap storage tank. In this way, as the sap runs out of the tree, it
will flow eventually into a tank in one place, and the sugarmaker can collect sap from many trees at one central location. With the old bucket method it required much more time and labor to go from tree to tree to gather the
sap.
The great amount of time and labor involved in maple syrup manufacturing has not diminished much over the years. Although modern boiling equipment makes the process somewhat faster and the use of
tubing instead of buckets saves time in the woods, the process is still very labor intensive, and involves much hard work. All the equipment must be set up every winter, and taken down, cleaned, and put away each spring. Work
has to be done in the woods, fallen trees have to be cleared out of the way, damage to the tubing systems must be repaired. Squirrels and other small animals are notorious for chewing holes in the tubing. Much of the work in
the woods must be done during the cold weather, and often on snowshoes in deep snow. The sugarmaker can never predict ahead of time what kind of crop he will have. The maple business is, after all, farming. Just as any field
crop farmer is dependent on the weather, so is the maple farmer. The catch is that the maple crop is just about fully dependent on the weather that occurs in a 5-6 week period in early spring.
Once the sap starts to flow, it must be collected and boiled as soon as possible. Because sap has sugar in it, sap can
spoil if not processed quickly. The sugarmaker must be prepared to gather his sap quickly and regularly. He must boil it down into maple syrup right away. Sometimes this requires boiling many long hours into the
night. Some sugarmakers use a new technology called reverse osmosis to speed up their work. This process is used before the sap is boiled. By passing the sap through a series of special membranes, much of the water in the
sap can be separated from the sugar, thereby giving the sugarmaker a much more concentrated sap to boil in his evaporator. This saves both boiling time and the amount of fuel required to make the maple syrup.
As soon as the syrup is made, it must be filtered to remove what is called "sugar sand", the gritty mineral deposits that occur naturally and precipitate out when the sap is boiled. After filtering,
the syrup is graded according to the Federal standards for color and taste, and then is canned or bottled while still at least 180 degrees. At this point the sugarmaker can be proud of his skills as an accomplished sugarmaker,
as his finished product is a sure sign of much hard work leading to a job well done.
Now you too can enjoy the fruits of our labor in your own home. We know how hard it is to find real maple syrup outside of the New England area so we are offering it for purchase from our site year round. Simply choose the size and grade you would like to have, then fill out the
order form
and submit it to us. Your New England taste treat will be on it's way to your kitchen. Prices do NOT include shipping and handling
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Maple Macadamia Nut Parfait
Serves 4
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup cold water
1 pkg Knox gelatin
macadamia nuts or other available nuts
Soak gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water 5 minutes . Bring syrup to boil. Stir in gelatin- stir
until clear. Add remaining cold water. Stir. Refrigerate. When mixture is almost set, beat until fluffy. Put in glasses, then into refrigerator. When serving, decorate with whipped cream, nuts, cherries
as desired.
Submitted by Mrs. Forrest Curtis. Maple Bread Pudding
Serves 4 to 6
3/4 cup maple syrup
3 slices bread without crusts
1 T. butter
1/2 cup nutmeats or raisins
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Pour maple syrup in top of double boiler. Butter each
slice of bread and cube. Add to syrup. Add nuts or raisins and lemon juice. Beat together eggs, milk, salt and vanilla and pour over bread mixture. Do not stir. Set over gently boiling water.
Cook 1 hour. This makes its own sauce. Spoon it over each serving.
Submitted by Bill and Tina Schneider. Simple Maple Sugar Cake
Serves 10 to 12
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup flour
6 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla -optional
Separate eggs. Put whites in large bowl, yolks in medium bowl, sift
flour several times, put in small bowl. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Set aside. Beat yolks until light, add syrup and vanilla if desired. Beat again to mix well. Pour yolk syrup
mixture into whites and fold gently with wire whip until blended. Gradually add flour 1 tbs. at a time while folding mixture. When blended , pour in large tube pan. (It seems to come out best for me if this
pan is lightly greased with butter and dusted with flour.) Bake at 325 degrees F for about 1 hr. Cool on rack, then remove cake from pan. This cake is especially good with no frosting but berries and whipped
cream.
From: Karin Cook |
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Old-time Maple Gingerbread
Serves 8
2 cup flour
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. soda
1 beaten egg
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine and sift dry ingredients. Mix maple syrup with beaten egg and add the sour cream. Combine the mixture
and bake in moderate oven for about 40 minutes. Serve with warm maple hard sauce or whipped cream.
From: Cynthia Coolidge Maple Oatmeal Drops
1/2 cup (1 stick ) butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup (dark)
1/3 cup dairy sour cream
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups rolled oars (quick)
In a small bowl or mixer , cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, maple syrup
and sour cream. Beat well. Mix flour, baking soda , cinnamon, ginger and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Stir in oats. Drop by spoonful on greased pan. Bake at 375 degree F. 8 to 10
minutes Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar.
From: Florence Phelps. Maple Walnut Squares
24 Bars
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup (1/3 maple)(1/3 brown)sugar
2 eggs beaten
2 tbsp. flour 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup walnuts chopped
Combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar and butter in bowl. With fork mix until consistency of fine corn meal. Press mix into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degree F. for 15 minutes
Combine 2/3 cup sugar and syrup in small saucepan. simmer 5 minutes. Pour over beaten eggs, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining ingredients, except nuts. Pour mix over baked crust. Sprinkle with
nuts and bake at 350 degree F. for 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan and cut in bars.
From: LeAnn Mason. |