In “Super Troopers,” Thorny and Rabbit chug it straight from the bottle. In the movie “Elf,” Buddy pours it all over his spaghetti. Americans love maple syrup in all its sticky sweetness as well as other maple products from cotton candy to maple crème to those yummy little maple candies.
Do you have sugar and red maple trees on your land? If so, making maple syrup is just a few simple steps away. In addition to some equipment, patience will be needed as it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup – that’s a lot of boiling time!
Maple season in the Northeast starts the end of February/beginning of March, depending on the temperature. For the sap to run, temperatures need to be above freezing during the day and below freezing at night.
First, you’ll need some taps, buckets or bags and a drill to tap your trees. If you’re planning on tapping a large number of trees, using tubing from the trees to a collection tank may be easier than walking through deep snow (sometimes multiple times per day depending on how the sap flows) to collect sap.
Buckets can be metal or plastic, and bags are becoming more popular as they are less expensive and can be discarded after the season is over, making clean up easier and storage unnecessary. Your local hardware most likely carries maple supplies and can get you set up for a reasonable cost. Contact your local Extension agent with questions or visit https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/7036e/ for more information.
Growing up in Northeast Vermont, maple syrup was a staple in our house. My grandfather, who lived across the street, always had a box of those delicious maple candies on a shelf on the bookcase in the living room. When I would visit, he’d ask if I wanted one (yes, please!) and he’d slowly take the top off and let me pick one out, then put the box back on the shelf. There was always a large maple leaf candy in the center of the box, which, when the rest of the box was gone, he would slice into small pieces and share with us. While the one candy was very much appreciated, I could have eaten the whole box!
My dad was a minister and the church would host a yearly Sugar on Snow Party inviting the community to enjoy the bounty of the harvest. Hot coffee, cocoa, plain donuts and dill pickles were served with the scrumptious, hot maple syrup spooned over fresh snow that caused it to thicken. It could then be rolled onto a popsicle stick or fork. The donuts and dill pickles helped to cut the sweetness of the syrup.
One year they hosted at a parishioner’s home who had made the syrup. His wife asked me if I’d like to make some maple candy. We went inside and she heated the syrup on the stove. When ready, she handed me a bowl of it and told me to stir it. It seemed like it took forever to start to become thicker. My arm was starting to tire but as it got thicker and creamier it was really amazing to me that I had actually made candy!
Maple Grove Farms in St. Johnsbury, VT, is well known for their maple products throughout the world. As a youngster I was lucky enough to do a behind the scenes tour with my Girl Scouts troop. We saw the various huge vats, tubs, mixers and fillers where syrup and confections were made. Near the end of the tour we saw long troughs filled with row after row of those large maple leaf-shaped candies. It was a sight that is still in my mind some 50 years later.
Many years ago, my husband Dan decided to try his hand at sugaring. He and the boys went out and tapped a tree, collected some sap and boiled it down to make about a cup of syrup. That inspired us to tap more trees the next year, and soon we had lots of taps and were staying up nights boiling the sap down. Our setup was pretty low tech – cinder blocks in the shape of a U with a metal grid over the top and two low pans to evaporate the sap with. The fire was hotter at one end than the other, so we’d have a boiling pan and a warming pan. When the sap really started to flow, we’d add another pot at the end as a pre-warmer. We’d take turns waking up to stoke the fire (mostly it was my husband) and check on the sap, adding to it when needed, and many times we’d get up to find the fire was out, or the syrup had boiled down too much and was a burnt mess in the pan. We’d finish the boiling process inside and then filter the syrup into sterilized beer bottles (Grolsch was preferred, as they had the fliptop) or gallon jugs.
My mother-in-law told the story of the one and only time they made syrup when Dan was a boy. They boiled it down in the house and all the steam made the wallpaper peel off the walls.
Our oldest son has taken over the sugaring. He uses tubing in the woods but for the maples in front of his house he uses buckets. He stills boils it down over the cinder blocks with the metal grid and pans. We did get him a refractometer this year to help know when the syrup is finished, along with some deeper pans to offset the chance of burning the syrup. His wife and girls enjoy helping him and we enjoy reaping the sweet reward of his hard work.
These three recipes are all made by bringing the syrup up to 235º F (soft ball stage) in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. The difference is in how it is finished. Please note when bringing syrup to a boil it will foam, so take care to watch it carefully. Some people add a dab of butter or a few drops of oil to keep it from foaming.
Sugar on Snow
1 pint maple syrup
Large bucket or tray of fresh, clean snow packed firmly (this helps to keep hot syrup from melting it).
Heat the maple syrup in a saucepan to 235º F.
Pour hot syrup over packed snow in ribbons. Using a popsicle stick or fork, roll up the “taffy” and enjoy!
Maple Candy
1 pint maple syrup
Boil syrup to 235º F in a saucepan. Remove from heat and let cool to 175º (10 minutes or so).
After syrup has cooled to 175º, start stirring. You’ll notice the color start to become lighter as it becomes thick and creamy.
Pour into candy molds or use small bowls. Let cool completely before removing from the molds. Store in an airtight container.
Maple Crème
1 pint maple syrup
Bring syrup to a boil in a saucepan until it reaches 235º. Immediately place pan into an ice water bath, adding ice if needed to the water bath (not to the syrup) until it reaches 100º. Do not stir during this time. Once the syrup has cooled, beat on medium until it becomes thick and creamy. It will become a lighter color as well. This will take 30-40 minutes so you may want to use a stand mixer, but be sure and watch it.
Maple crème can be spread over toast, used as an ice cream topping or (if you’re like me) eaten with a spoon.
