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

Maple Taffee Goodness

Maple Taffee Goodness

Sugary Treat

Sugary Treat

So, who’s ever experienced maple taffee on snow? And who’s ever had that sweet smirk my niece has on her face after a taste?

Maple Taffee on Snow (Tire sur la Neige)

Maple Taffee on Snow 2

Maple Taffee on Snow 2

As my family began getting ready for the food frenzy my visit to Quebec would bring on, one thing that my oldest niece, Maude, wanted to be sure my sister would fix for us is Tire sur la Neige, or Maple Taffee on Snow.  This treat is one most popular at sugar shacks during maple syrup season, but great anytime there’s snow outside.

Ingredients:

  • 2 – 3 cups maple syrup
  • Freshly gathered snow packed tightly into a wide, low container

Directions:

  1. Maple Taffee on Snow

    Maple Taffee on Snow

    Pour the maple syrup into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil on high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until it reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer, approximately 4-5 minutes.

  2. Using a ladle,  drizzle some of the hot syrup onto the snow, making certain not to cover the entire surface (you can re-pour additional syrup after the first round of taffee is gone).
  3. Let the taffee set for a minute then pick up by rolling on a fork or wooden chopstick.

Notes:  Don’t have snow where you live?  Finely-crushed ice from a blender would work!