I am from “away”. So, I cannot tells tales of my childhood growing up in Maine of such things as Maine Maple Sunday and all the treats that go along with the education of one of the oldest traditions in Maine.
But when I first participated in Maine Maple Sunday I felt like a child in a grownup body. How fun is it to watch the process! In a real old fashioned sugar house! Imagine something that can be harvested in a Maine cold winter mode. With snow still on the ground! Something real and organic!
The sugar in maple sap only appears where warm, sunny days and below-freezing nights follow each other for days on end, as they do in Maine’s long, slow spring time usually starting in late February. Maple sap, as it drips from the tree, is a clear liquid containing about 2% dissolved sugar. It looks just like water, and has a very slight sweet taste. The true maple flavor comes out as part of the heating and boiling process.
Maple Sap Buckets
Some sugar houses are producing maple syrup in a high tech way. Fortunately for us many sugar houses in Maine still tap and produce the sap in the old fashioned way in buckets hung from trees and boiled down in big kettles over wood fires until the syrup reaches a temperature of seven degrees above the boiling point of water. Native Americans actually started this process in much the same way except they tapped the trees with axes. After they boiled the sap they left it to cool. They actually made maple sugar so that it lasted much longer.
There are more than seventy sugarhouses in Maine. According to Maine Maple Producers Association ONE 40 year old tree yields 40 quarts of sap per season which produces 1 quart of pure maple syrup? WOW – what a fact. That’s a lot of sap and not so much syrup. No wonder it is so expensive. But oh so worth it!
The end product is primarily the rich-flavored maple syrup that we have in our pantry all year round. It is used for waffles and pancakes; it’s also used to make a variety of confections, such as pure maple sugar and maple fudge. Or our own CVC maple walnut cookies. I also make a wonderful maple syrup salad dressing and a maple syrup glazed chicken and of course baked beans! Yummmmmmmmm!
CVC Maple Walnut Cookies
Preheat Oven 350 degrees
Please note that this is a true bakers recipe where the ingredients are measured by the pound and ounce not cups, teaspoons and tablespoons
Ingredients:
2 Lb of Butter and Margarine Blend
1 1/2lb Sugar
1 3/4 Lb Brown Sugar
2 Cups of Eggs- about 10 count
1 ¼ Oz Vanilla
4 ounces of maple flavoring
3 1/2 Lb All Purpose Flour
3/4 Oz of salt
1 oz Baking Soda
3/4 oz Baking Powder
1 Pounds of Chopped Walnuts
Method:
Cream butter, margarine and sugars until well blended. Add 2 eggs at a time until all is creamy. Add vanilla and maple flavoring. Mix all dry ingredients and add a little at a time until all is incorporated. Then add walnuts until mixed in. Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and bake for about 12 minutes.
Enjoy and stay tuned for more great Maple treats! Also feel free to share your own creations!
Don’t miss this year’s Maine Maple Sunday: March 28, 2010
Culinary Capers At CVC 