21 Feb, 2010
Sweet Canadiana: Maple taffy recipe
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Easy ways to make kids happy|Recipes and Food
I will write about spinning for Heart & Stroke in a bit, but I first I wanted to jot down the recipe for some sweet maple syrup treats we made last weekend after a visit to Jacques Cartier Park. I call it “taffy” but it’s not REALLY taffy. Taffy is stretched in order to acheive a light and chewy texture. This recipe is essentially a bunch of maple syrup that’s boiled and quicly cooled on snow (or shaved ice) to make a very VERY sweet and chewy kind of lollipop.
I like this recipe because it’s easy to make and it makes me look like a hero.
You will need:
1 cup of pure maple syrup
snow
heavy-bottomed, medium-sized pot
tray or cake pan
candy thermometer
popsicle sticks or disposable chopsticks
Pack some snow into the cake pan. Pack it down really well! It needs to be a solid layer.
Boil the maple syrup until it reaches 115ºC on a candy thermometer. Please note, this is very hot. And dangerous, and not really kid-friendly AT ALL.
This should take about 10 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready if it forms a thread when you drop a bit into some cold water.
When the syrup is ready, drizzle it across the snow in horizontal rows:
Working quickly, roll each row up onto the end of a stick to make a kind of lollipop.
(Let’s see that again, shall we?):
Yum!
Don’t wait too long, otherwise your syrup will be too cold to roll – and it will eventually freeze.
Enjoy, and don’t blame me if you lose a filling, ok? :)
