The most important things at a glance:
- Maple syrup is made from the sap of the sugar maple tree
- For 1 liter of maple syrup we need up to 50 liters of maple sap
- Each maple tree produces enough sap for about 1.5 liters of syrup per season
- The harvest time determines the color of the syrup
- Maple syrup is a very good sugar substitute
In a cloak-and-dagger operation, a few scoundrels break into a secure warehouse under cover of darkness and disappear into the night with their fat loot. Gold is highly sought after - no matter what form it takes.
Unlike Hollywood films, the biggest theft In Canada's history, it was not about stealing solid bars, but barrels full of liquid gold. The so-called “Great Canadian Maple Heist” From 2011 to 2012, over 9,000 barrels of maple syrup were produced with a total value of over 18.5 million Canadian dollars (almost 13 million euros ) were gradually stolen from a warehouse in Quebec and resold illegally.
The theft remained undetected for so long because it was a storage facility where the maple syrup is often stored for months before being resold, with general inspections of the barrels once a year. At first, the crooks had thought carefully and removed individual barrels and, after emptying them, filled them with water before returning them. The fraud was discovered when, during the annual inspection, an inspector tried to climb on top of the piled-up barrels and they collapsed beneath him because the crooks had become careless over the months and had started to pump the barrels empty on site rather than filling them with water afterwards.
It may not have been Fort Knox, but history could still straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster originate from.
But why is maple syrup not only precious but also so delicious? Come with us on a culinary journey to our friends at Crown Maple in the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York State and find out for yourself.
Maple syrup – the culinary gold pan
The sun is shining, a cold wind is blowing through the trees, the breath is still forming small clouds of mist in front of our faces – when the days start to get longer again in spring, our friends from Crown Maple that “Sugar Shack Day” is approaching and with it the tempting amber color of fresh maple syrup.
But of course the sweet nectar does not come out of the tree as clear and golden. The basis of the maple syrup that we love to have at breakfast about waffles and pancakes or perhaps pour it over some fried chicken at lunchtime (more on that later), is the so-called maple sap. Even if it sounds a bit macabre, you can imagine this sap in the maple tree to be similar to the blood in our bodies. It consists mainly of water and sugar and distributes the nutrients gained from the soil and photosynthesis throughout the tree. While the maple tree is in hibernation during the cold months, the sap stands still, but as soon as the temperatures are usually between February and April When the sun gets stronger during the day and the temperatures rise above zero, the sap begins to circulate through the tree again. This is the perfect time to pierce the tree and harvest the sweet sap.
But won't it harm the tree if we simply drain some of its blood? Don't worry. Depending on its size and age, a healthy sugar maple tree can up to five taps at the same time without any problems, but nowadays most trees only have 1 or 2 at the same time. Only through pressure and gravity does the sap then leave the tree on its own and can be collected for further processing. In the past, this was all done quite practically by hand with collecting buckets etc. but today the sap is usually pumped directly from the tree through pipes into the so-called "sugar shacks" (hence the name "Sugar Shack Day") for further processing.
But who came up with the strange idea of tap into a tree, like in a barrel of beer? According to legend, the tasty juice was first discovered the Native Americans by throwing a Tomahawks , which hit one of the target trees deep enough to bring the sweet sap to light. How much truth there is behind the legend is up to each individual, but the fact is that the so-called "Tree Tapping" has a tradition that goes back thousands of years and not only in the far north. Even the Arabs harvested juice from local birch trees and brewed an alcoholic drink from it.
But back to our maple sap. Once enough has been collected and arrived at the sugar shack, we can finally the culinary gold panning The maple sap fresh from the tree is relatively diluted and consists only 3% sugar – the remaining 97% is more or less pure water. To transform the light juice into our delicious golden syrup, one thing is needed above all: temperature. The juice is cooked at 100° C. This causes some of the water to evaporate and the sugar to start to caramelize. Due to the high water loss, you ultimately need 40 to 50 liters of juice for just one liter of syrup. Over time, an increasingly thick, golden reduction forms, almost reminiscent of honey: The maple syrup . Finally, the syrup, like the metallic gold in the river, is filtered freed from impurities and then the liquid gold is ready to be bottled, sold and enjoyed.
Sounds simple at first, right? Why is maple syrup (in general) so expensive and not without reason liquid gold ?
The yield is what counts. On average, a single maple tree delivers about 75 liters of juice per harvest season – that is enough for the production of about 1.5 liters of maple syrup. Let’s take the 250 ml bottles from Crown Maple as an example, that means Each tree can produce 6 bottles of maple syrup each season . Sounds like a small amount? It is, and that's why the production of maple syrup requires a lot of trees, which in turn require a lot of land and a lot of care. The money adds up quickly and the end result of all the effort is just as valuable: probably the purest maple syrup in the world.
Natural and Healthy – the Purest Maple Syrup in the World
But how can you tell at first glance whether maple syrup is really worth its weight in gold? To make it as easy as possible for customers, manufacturers from the USA and Canada have agreed on a unified system for categorization and qualification, which distinguishes between a total of 4 levels of maple syrup. The decisive factor here is the translucency of the final product. A light syrup usually tastes milder and sweeter and the darker the color, the more bitter and intense the syrup's taste. The color However, this has nothing to do with the filtration, but actually depends on the time of harvest. At the beginning of the season, the maple sap is clear and pure, but over time, more and more additives form in the sap that are harmless to food and make the sap cloudy. For this reason, light maple syrup is also the most valuable and usually more expensive than the dark varieties. To simplify, the 4 quality levels defined as follows:
- Golden Color: fine-mild taste, very light color
- Amber Color: mild-aromatic taste, slightly light color
- Dark Color: strong taste, medium color
- Very Dark Color: very strong taste, dark color
This system is currently exclusive to the North American market and maple syrup from other countries does not follow the same classification.
Regardless of the color, pure maple syrup is surprisingly healthy . Although it consists largely of sugar for its uniquely sweet taste, it also contains other important nutrients, e.g. vitamin B and works, just like honey, antiseptic . Maple syrup is also an alternative sweetener to normal sugar, as it contains on average around a third fewer calories than commercially available sugar. This is mainly due to the still high water content of 45%.
Sweet and delicious – everything with maple syrup
The seductive sweetness of maple syrup on pancakes and waffles Hopefully we do not need to go into this further here, as it is the American breakfast classic par excellence. For a few fruity accents, we recommend our new flavor of Crown Maple:
➡️ Blueberry Maple Syrup by Crown Maple, 250 ml
But maple syrup can do so much more.
Instead of just pouring the syrup over the finished baked goods, it is also perfect as an ingredient for baking . Our tip:
Maple Pecan Cookies
Simply mix a classic cookie dough with flour, sugar, baking powder, egg, butter, salt and cinnamon (we recommend brown sugar from Domino ). For the American kick, add a dash maple syrup from Crown Maple Mix into the dough. Knead well until a homogeneous dough is formed and roll out on a floured work surface and cut out. The cookies at 180°C (160°C with fan) for about 10 minutes until they are golden brown. Then let them cool.
In a bowl, make a classic glaze from powdered sugar and lemon juice and stir in 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. Chop a handful of pecans. Finally, sprinkle the cookies with the sugar-maple syrup glaze and sprinkle the pecan pieces on top. Then wait a little while until the glaze has hardened and you can start snacking.
Waffle Chicken
But maple syrup also offers a lot of potential outside of traditionally sweet dishes, such as baked goods etc. Waffle Chicken z.B. has been an increasingly popular fusion food for years, topped with maple syrup, of course. The wonderful mixture of warm waffles, crispy chicken and aromatically sweet maple syrup is definitely worth a try. And if you like it particularly adventurous and yet rather sweet, you can also add a little whipped cream and chocolate sauce add to it.
➡️ Farmhouse Pancake & Waffle Mix variants from Stonewall Kitchen
And even on meat Maple syrup looks really good. You can use it for light sweetening in stews or even as a basis for delicious marinades (e.g. together with notes of mustard and garlic) to juicy steaks, smoky grilled meat and even fish. But if you want to try something really special, you should try the following recipe:
Maple Meat Pie
First, knead together a classic meat pie filling with pork, veal, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, spices and a dash of red wine. Then leave the mixture in the fridge for a few hours. In a saucepan, thicken melted butter with flour and Refine with maple syrup . Boil the mixture until it becomes a thick mass and then allow to cool.
The oven Preheat oven to 175°C . Line the bottom of a baking pan (we recommend the Line the pie pans (Anchor Hocking pie pans ) with a layer of rolled-out dough, spread the meat filling on top and then pour the maple syrup-butter sauce over it. Cover everything with a second layer of dough (or Pie crust from Cup4Cup ) and cut holes for the steam. For an extra crispy result, brush the dough with a little egg yolk and then bake for about 1 ½ hours Bake in the oven. Set aside to rest for about 15 minutes before serving.
➡️ Deep glass pie dish from Anchor Hocking
➡️ Graham Cracker Pie Crust (9 inch) - Cookie dough base for pies (23 cm)
Fluffy Apple Cider Donuts
Here's how:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Meanwhile, reduce 360 ml of cider and 120 ml of Cinnamon Infused Maple Syrup from Crown Maple until it is reduced to about a third of the original amount (takes about 10 to 20 minutes). Mix 250 g of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of apple pie spice (you can find this in our shop) and a pinch of salt. In another bowl, mix 30 g of melted butter, 1 large egg, 100 g of brown sugar (we recommend the Dominos brand), 100 g of sugar, 120 g of milk (room temperature) and 1 teaspoon of Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract from Nielsen-Massey.
Put the butter mixture together with the dry ingredients and the reduced cider/syrup in a bowl and whisk until a homogenous mixture is formed. If you want to enjoy the donuts not only in taste but also in shape like German doughnuts, we recommend baking them in our practical donut baking pan instead of frying them. Simply grease the pan lightly and distribute the dough between the 6 holes. Bake for about 10 minutes and then set aside to cool.
For the authentic topping, simply mix powdered sugar, cinnamon and apple pie spice and dip the cooled donuts into the mixture on both sides. Done.
If you are thirsty, it is worth reaching for good old maple syrup. in cocktails The sweet note works particularly well, for example in hot toddies or as an extra kick in rum and gin. But even those who prefer something less strong will get their money's worth with maple syrup. We recommend:
The Maple Shake
Simply combine a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a quarter cup of milk and half a cup of Crown Maple maple syrup (we recommend the varieties Vanilla-Infused , Cinnamon-Infused , Applewood or Bourbon Barrel ) in a blender. When all the ingredients are well mixed, add a pinch of salt for an extra kick of flavor and mix again briefly. The delicious shake is now ready to serve.
And if you like to go one step further, you can top the finished shakes with cream and a homemade maple-chocolate sauce Garnish with cocoa powder or ground chocolate (we love the Mix the chocolate chips (from Guittard ) with maple syrup and then pour over the cream.
➡️ Crown Maple Variations: Maple syrup with vanilla or cinnamon
➡️ Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup - Limited Edition
➡️ Chocolate Chips from Guittard Chocolate Company
If you have now acquired a taste for it, we recommend that you simply try it yourself. In addition to the classic maple syrup in the grades Amber, Dark and Very Dark, we also have a range of flavor-refined variants on offer. And if you want to try it first or pass on the typical American taste to your friends, we offer both sample sets in small sizes as well as gift boxes in the stylish Crown Maple design:
➡️ Probably the purest maple syrup in the world from Crown Maple
