Homemade Maple Syrup

  • Homemade Maple Syrup

    I know, I know.  You’re thinking “why would anyone ever make their own maple syrup?”, and I’m right there with you.  It’s kind of like making your own paper- some people do it, but you question whether you should be friends with them.  There are better things to do in life, right?  Like clicking “Add to Cart” beside Grade B Maple Syrup and 250 sheets of paper on Amazon.

    But what if it was a Sunday morning and you had a raging hankering for pancakes but not a drop of maple syrup in the joint?  (Yes, an acceptable answer would be venture out in the cold to Beatrix for their Fluffy Lemon Pancakes, which astonished The Husband when we were there last weekend because “they really are so fluffy”, but what if you didn’t want to leave the house or your jammies?)  You’d make your own maple syrup, that’s what you’d do.

    And what if it was kind of late one evening and you had just started making All-Natural Granola Bars, because you are the  picture of all-natural health this year, and you realized you didn’t have any maple syrup- and it was kind of a key ingredient in the recipe?  (Yes, you could totally put your layers on and drive to Whole Foods to spend at least $19.99 on a cute little jug of the liquid gold, but what if it was too late?  And you were too lazy to leave home?)  I think you get the point.  You’d go online and find out what to use in the goddamn bars instead of maple syrup.

    One more scenario for you to drive the point home (in case you’re the slow type who makes your own paper without maybe realizing it’s now available at Office Max and stuff):  what if you were going to make waffles or something and realized Aunt Jemima was all you had?  You’d make this recipe on the fly, baker.  I don’t shun Jemima- after all, I kept her in her pseudo-syrup business for many many years (really- I’d have a giant bottle a week on my own, when I was downing the Cinnamon Eggo Waffles like they were going out of style), but putting her “syrup” on a homemade waffle or pancake would be like, well, an analogy that I can’t think of right now where it clearly illustrates how you wouldn’t tarnish something fantastic with something synthetic.
    (I’m a mixing bowl full of contradictions, I know.  I’m shunning Aunt Jemima syrup here, while I extol the virtues of Quickie Toffee Graham Cracker Cookies in this post.  And I have a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the cupboard, waiting for me to come around and use them to top a cinnamon muffin or whatever strikes me in the moment.  I’m a fake baking snob.  Apologies.  Use Aunt Jemima if you love her.  Tell her I say hello, and that I’m still a fan.)

    Adapted from About.com’s recipe…

    1/2 cup granulated sugar

    1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

    1 cup boiling water

    1 teaspoon butter

    1 teaspoon maple extract or vanilla extract

    1. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat granulated sugar over medium-high heat until the sugar melts and turns brown (swirl the pan as the sugar cooks, being careful not to stir).
    2. In a separate medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour water over brown sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat without stirring.  Add caramelized white sugar to the melted brown sugar in the saucepan.  Simmer on medium-low, stirring often, until the syrup is slightly thickened.
    3. Remove from heat, and whisk in butter and maple or vanilla extract.
    4. Serve warm or at room temperature.

    Tips:

    • Melting/ cooking sugar is challenging.  But not impossible, especially if you watch it and make sure it doesn’t burn.  You need a good quality pan or else the sugar will scorch in some areas and not cook in others… just make sure you swirl the stuff around a lot to evenly cook the little granules.
    • Be careful while pouring/stirring the caramelized white sugar into the bubbling brown.  Both sugars will be hot and will burn like a mofo if they get on your skin.
    • Don’t worry if the caramelized white sugar looks clumpy when you add it to the brown; as you stir, it will melt into the brown and become one solid, sugary elixir.
    • Your kitchen will smell amazing as you cook the sugars and then add the extract.  Warning.
    • Enjoy!

     

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    January 18th, 2014 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: , ,

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