Tag Archives: maple syrup

How To Make Pure Maple Sugar

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How To Make Pure Maple Sugar

How To Make Pure Maple Sugar

It took me about a year, but I finally got around to making maple sugar. I have been planning to make it since I made maple cream for my husband, and just never got around to it. To be honest the weather just hasn’t permitted it. It has been so humid here in California lately, and making maple sugar in humid weather is a nightmare. I’ve been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the weather to change and it’s just not happening. The other day when I was in the grocery store, I picked up a package of maple sugar, it was $19.99 for about 5 ounces, and I thought to myself, “Really? I could just make this.” So I put the package back and picked up a 32 ounce bottle of maple syrup instead, it was the same price as the 5 ounce package of maple sugar—see where I’m going with this? Even with the humidity, making maple sugar is a better option than buying it–although I don’t recommend it–making maple sugar really is a nuisance in humid weather–it’s doable, but a total headache! You need the sugar to be dry, wet air doesn’t help in that process. Without humidity the process of making maple sugar is pretty simple. After you make it, you’ll wonder why you never made this before. If you’re wondering why I even bother…sugar is sugar, right? Wrong, at the caloric base, yes, sugar is sugar, whether you consume the white stuff, the raw stuff, or the home made maple sugar, your body metabolizes it all the same. But when you factor in things like how sugars are processed, and the chemicals used to process those sugars, which remain on the sugar, then you can see that not all sugars are created equally. The great thing about maple sugar, is that it contains minerals and nutrients that you would not otherwise consume, so it’s sugar with an added mineral bonus.

If you want to see how I do this with a silpat and a blender –no stirring  or mixer involved –check out my youtube video  by clicking on the photo below, and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel while you’re at it!

Click here to watch my Video how to

Click here to watch my Video how to

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Prep time: none
Cook time: 7-10 minutes

This makes about 1.25 cups of maple sugar

Ingredients:
1 cup of pure 100% maple syrup (I used grade A but B works)

Tools:
Wooden spoon
Heavy bottom pot (medium size)
Thermometer that can read well over 250F
Stand mixer or you could stir this manually

Directions: Pour the maple syrup into a pan, and heat over medium high heat

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Heat until your thermometer reads 255-265F

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Remove from heat and pour into stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer on medium speed (about 6) and mix.

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The maple syrup will start to change color and texture as it cools, it will also begin to dry out–you want this, keep going until it is completely dry.

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Once it looks dry, put a small amount into a sieve, and push it through with a wooden spoon, continue doing this until you have sifted all the sugar. Or you could just put this in the blender and save yourself the time.  I prefer to sift, I sift even after I blend, just to make sure that all of the crystals are uniform.

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Place the sugar into an airtight container. I use maple sugar in every recipe that calls for sugar, the substitution ratio is 3/4 cup maple sugar = 1 cup granulated sugar.

 

Trouble Shooting: If you decide to do this on a hot and humid day, one of the issues you may encounter is that your mixture will not harden–this is especially the case for doing this without a mixer–but even with a mixer it can still occur.  If you pour this out of the hot pan and onto the silpat and the humidity prevents it from hardening–you can still save it.  Place it into the fridge to harden, then break it up and process in a blender/processor.  It will become sticky, pliable, and clumpy as it melts–humidity is a you know what– spread it back out on the silpat and let it sit out in the open.  Like stale bread it will begin to absorb the moisture in the air–which is a good thing–confusing I know–but once it has absorbed all the moisture that it can hold–it will harden and become dry–very dry, and very hard, and that’s what you want.  Once it’s hard, place it in the processor/blender and like magic you have granulated maple sugar.


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Pure Maple Cream

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Maple Cream / Maple Butter

It’s nearing Father’s Day and one of my gifts for my husband is to finally fulfill his desire to have maple cream, also known as maple butter, on his toast. He loves maple cream, and always speaks of the time he spent in Vermont very fondly. Whenever he speaks of Vermont, there always comes a point in the conversation in which he talks about maple cream, and every single time that he speaks of maple cream, his eyes gleam. It’s almost like witnessing him sitting in a cafe tasting the maple cream for the very first time. Before today, I  have never had maple cream. So up to this point I didn’t really get this infatuation he had with maple cream. On an ingredient scale, maple cream is easy to make, it only requires one ingredient, maple syrup. However, making maple cream requires some effort, it is definitely not a lazy girl activity. This however is a special occasion, and my husband deserves all the effort, and some, that I put into making this maple cream for him. He is an amazing father, extremely hands on, and he ADORES our daughter. I wish that every child could be loved by their dad as much as my husband loves our daughter. She is definitely lucky to have him as her dad. Making this maple cream is the least I could do for him. To be fair, I actually thought that it would be much harder to make this maple cream than it actually was. Just stir at a steady pace and you should be fine. This requires about 30-40 minutes of constant stirring, so just prepare yourself.

Here’s what you need:
3 cups of Grade A Maple Syrup

Equipment
A wet/dry thermometer or candy thermometer

Directions:
Prepare an ice bath by placing a medium size sauce pan into a large bowl of ice:

In another sauce pan add 3 Cups of maple syrup:

 

Over medium heat allow the syrup to boil undisturbed until the temperature reaches 235 degrees Fahrenheit, I went over a degree because I was trying to take a picture for the blog;-)

Boil for 1 more minute just to make sure that the liquid has indeed reached that temperature, then turn off the heat, and pour the hot syrup into the clean sauce pan in the ice bath. Allow it to cool until the temperature reaches 100 degrees.

Remove the pot  from the ice bath and begin stirring:

As you stir the color will begin to change and the liquid will begin to thicken it turned this color after about 15 minutes of stirring:

Once the maple syrup looses its glossy sheen and it starts to look like tahini, or has the texture of peanut butter stop stirring. It took about 40 minutes. Pour into a clean storage container:

Spread this mixture on biscuits, toast, pancakes, waffles, or whatever your heart desires, and enjoy!

What are your fondest memories of your dad?
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Homemade lavender infused vanilla bean ice cream

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I am the Queen of kitchen gadgets! If they make it, then there is a 85 percent chance that I have it in my kitchen. As a matter of fact, I have so many kitchen gadgets that I placed a self imposed stop on buying any more kitchen gadget’s. As useful as kitchen gadgets are, I just don’t have any more room to store these things. I was doing pretty well with my self imposed moratorium, until Sunday! I have been trying to figure out what to buy with a gift card that I’ve had for months. For the life of me, I just could not make up my mind about what to buy! As I was perusing the humongous aisles in Costco on Sunday, it hit me! Why not an ice cream maker? When I placed the rather large ice cream maker into our cart, my husband said, “Sweetie why don’t you buy something for yourself with your  gift card? I can buy this for us.” I looked at him and smiled. I love my husband, and in moments like these, I love him even more, but I shook my head and said, ” think about who you’re talking to, it’s ME, an ice cream maker IS personal to me!” He thought about it, laughed and said, ” I guess it is!” As we walked out of the store,  I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to make first with my ice cream maker. I love, love, love lavender ice cream, but it’s near impossible to find in the grocery store. Lavender is not a typical ice cream flavor, I’ve only had it a couple of times in my life, and every time that I’ve had it, I wanted more… it is delish!!!  You can leave out the lavender in this recipe if it’s not your thing, and you’ll still have the best vanilla bean ice cream that you’ve ever tasted. I used eggs and made a custard, this makes the ice cream really creamy and rich. You cannot get this level of creaminess without making the custard, so do it! You will not be disappointed, I promise! I used maple syrup to sweeten this, but you can use your sweetener of choice. Don’t worry if you don’t own an ice cream maker you can still make this. You’ll just need some..well a lot of arm power! By the way, I am happy that I have an ice cream maker, but storing this thing is going to be a real problem!
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Ingredients:
8 egg yolks
3/4 cups of maple syrup or sweetener of your choice
1 vanilla bean split down the middle
2-3 Tablespoons of lavender dried
1 1/2 cups of whole milk
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Equipment
Ice cream maker
Or
1 quart size Ziploc bag
1  one gallon Ziploc bag
2 1/2 cups of ice
1/2 cup of salt

Directions:

In a medium bowl, beat together the yolks, and your sweetener of choice. You can beat by hand using a whisk, or use a hand mixer. Beat until thoroughly smooth and creamy. (A couple of minutes by hand.) If you’re using maple syrup, or agave, the mixture comes together quite quickly.
 

 

Put 1 cup of the cream,  all of the milk, lavender, and salt into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Scrape the vanilla seeds from the beans with the tip of a small knife, and place into the pan; add the pod too. Heat the mixture until just before it starts to simmer (DO NOT LET IT SIMMER). Remove mixture from heat and let it steep for 5 minutes.
Strain the hot mixture, reserving the milk and discarding lavender andvanilla bean pod.
 
 

Add half of the hot mixture to the egg-yolk mixture, and whisk until blended. Be careful when adding the hot mixture to the egg mixture, go slowly you don’t want scrambled eggs.  Stir this mixture into remaining hot mixture in the sauce pan, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. or wooden fork in my case.

 

 

Remove from heat, and immediately stir in the remaining cream. Let the mixture cool for  at least 30 minutes.  If you want all the flavors to meld, let it cool to room temperature, then place in an air tight container, and refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight, as I did. Once the cream has cooled sufficiently, freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.


If you don’t have an ice cream maker, then place 1 cup of your cooled mixture into one of the 1 quart zip lock bag and seal it. It is very important that the cream mixture is cold when using this method, so try to let it cool for at least 3 hours before trying this method. Next pour the ice and salt into the 1 gallon ziplock bag. Place the bag with the cream mixture into the bag with ice and salt and seal. Make sure neither bag has any excess air. Now here comes the work. Shake the bag until the mixture becomes solid, at least 5-10 minutes, serve and enjoy!

Here is a really cute way to do this in an old coffee can. Your kids can do this, and save you a lot of arm work…that or just run out and buy an  ice cream maker, but, then, like me, you’ll have to find some where to store it.

 

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Gluten-free guiltless almond flour banana nut muffins

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If your house is anything like my household, mornings are hectic!!  Breakfast is always a chore to make! Certified Nutritionist Justice De la Torre comes to the rescue with this protein packed, gluten and grain free muffin. This muffin is moist, and quite frankly, the best muffin I’ve tasted in quite some time! Trust me when I say that you want to make this muffin! In addition to being delicious, this muffin is good for you.  It’s high in fiber, iron, potassium, and Vitamin E! With the addition of 1 scoop of protein powder, each muffin has 5 grams of protein. If I were you I would make a double batch of these, because they are just that good. This recipe uses Almond flour, also known as almond meal. You can find almond meal in the flour section of almost any supermarket now days. This is a great muffin to start the day with. But, it’s also great as a high protein snack for those middle of the day cravings. My daughter loved this muffin, as I’m sure will you too!. This is a great alternative to  sugar laden banana breads, this muffin contains no refined sugar!

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Here’s what you need:

3 cups  almond flour/meal
1 tsp  baking soda
1/2 tsp  sea salt
1/2 tsp  baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
3  eggs
2 1/2  very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup maple syrup or xylitol
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp  vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped nuts
Equipment:
Muffin pan
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or line a 12–muffin tin. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mash bananas with a fork, add in your wet ingredients, and mix well:

Add wet mixture to dry mixture. Stir just to combine.

Fill muffin cups. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Bake about 20 min. (tops will be set and spring back when lightly touched)

What is your favorite muffin? If you share I’ll pick one favorite and revamp the recipe to make a healthy alternative like this one.
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Chocolate avocado pudding

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Chocolate and advacado are probably not two things that you would instinctually put together. In fact when I told my husband that I was going to make a chocolate pudding using an advacado as a base his response was, “Eww..that sounds disgusting,” insert sour face here! I can’t say that I blame him for that response, you’re probably thinking the same thing! But trust me when I tell you that this pudding is one of those things that you have to taste to understand. Once you taste it, you WILL be a convert! With each 4 ounce serving of this pudding you’re getting about 2 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, and putting a dent in your daily Omega 3 and 6 intake. However, The absolute best part is that you can eat something that tastes sinfully delicious, but that is totally good for you! 

Here is what you need:

1 + 1/2 ripe avocado
5 Tablespoons of either quality cocoa powder (100% pure cacao)/ or 1/3 cup of a good quality chocolate bar (60% pure cacao) which you need to melt or shave.
5 tablespoons of  pure maple syrup, ( you can substitute honey, Agave, or sweetener of your choice)
1/4 cup  milk of your choice, I used Almond milk. You can also use water.
2 tsp pure vanilla extract or essence

Equipment you need:
Blender, or food processor

Directions:
Half avocado, discard pit, and remove flesh:

Place flesh of the avocado, cocoa powder, sweetener, milk, and vanilla in the blender/ food processor:
Blend until smooth. If you like a thinner pudding add more milk/water


Pour into a dish:



Garnish with whatever you like and serve! If you like it cold, you can chill before serving, but once you taste this, i doubt that you’ll want to!!

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