Feeling Sappy? My Top 5 Maple Syrup Desserts

Feeling Sappy? My Top 5 Maple Syrup Desserts

Maple Water Bucket

Maple season’s here and every year that I don’t make it home to Quebec for the sweetest season of all, I get a bit homesick. I grew up in a small town in southeast Quebec where my family and four other families of friends owned a sugar shack. I have very fond memories of harnessing horses to a sled hauling a maple sap collection barrel and then bring this sap to the shack for the boiling process that would result in amber elixir our moms then cooked and baked with.

This year, since I won’t be making the pilgrimage north, I decided to bake and cook with maple syrup for a two-week stretch to get my fix in. I even requested the help of my family to expand my maple recipe collection. Here are my top 5 maple dessert recipes from my archives and from newly-shared family recipes:

  1. Eggs in Maple Syrup
  2. Maple Delights
  3. Maple Syrup Dumplings
  4. Maple Syrup Pie
  5. Maple Taffee on the Snow

BONUS 6: Maple Whipped Cream

If you decide to try any of them, please leave a comment on this post so I can let my mom, aunt and grandma who contributed know that our traditional family recipes are being enjoyed.

Cheers!

Veronique

Eggs in Maple Syrup (Oeufs Dans le Sirop D’Erable)

Eggs in Maple Syrup (Oeufs Dans le Sirop D’Erable)

My mom, Diane, isn’t the sweet tooth in the family, her love of food is more savory, so I’m excited to be able to share a dessert she craves often and can’t live without – scrambled eggs cooked in maple syrup.  Yea, I know, it sounds odd, but it’s a very traditional dish in Quebec, especially during sugar shack season in the spring.  Think egg drop soup, but with maple syrup instead of broth.  Give it a try a let me (and my mom) know what you think!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup maple syrup (see ‘notes’ below)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Vanilla ice cream (optional, sort of)

Directions:

  1. Bring the syrup to a boil in a small, heavy saucepan, over medium-high heat.  Once the syrup has begun to boil, turn heat to medium-low.
  2. In a medium bowl, break the eggs, then scramble them well using either a fork or a whisk.  Add salt to the eggs and stir to incorporate.
  3. Pour the egg mixture into the simmering syrup and stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate the egg into the hot syrup.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove the saucepan from the heat and let sit to cool for about 15 minutes.
  4. Scoop ice cream in two bowls, divide eggs between the two bowls then spoon some cooking liquid onto the eggs and ice cream.

Makes 2 servings.

Notes: Don’t waste top notch maple syrup to bake or cook with, less fancy grade will do just fine and often offers stronger maple flavors.  This recipe can easily be doubled.  Letting the mixture cool off a bit before serving allows the syrup to thicken slightly, so don’t omit this step, no matter how difficult it will be!