Baking Spice Blends: Maple Sugar
Maple Sugar is the perfect accent to pancakes, but it is also a great alternative to sweetening things like cakes, muffins, and cookies. It is also a flavorful substitute for white sugar in coffee, tea or your favorite recipes.
Ingredients: Pure Dehydrated Maple Syrup.
Last summer my brother Mark and I took a rafting trip down Quebec’s Rouge River. It was a 1 night 2 day event, thus we had to carry with us our clothing, camping equipment, and food. For our morning on the river, the guides prepared pancakes complete with maple syrup. Rather than lugging bottles of maple syrup around, they had dehydrated syrup from a Canadian Maple Sugar farm. Thus all they had to do was add boiling water at the campsite. For anyone wishing to sweeten their coffee or tea, they simply offered the same powder. So impressed by the taste and luxury of a dried syrup, we set out to find a local sugarhouse to do the same for us.
Recipes for Maple Sugar.
For quick and easy maple syrup, mix 1 part boiling water to 2 parts mix. For example: ½ cup boiling water for 1 cup mix.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
- 2 lbs butternut squash, peeled & chopped
- 1 tbsp MAPLE SUGAR (or more to your taste)
- ½ cup Butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
Put Squash in boiling water and cook until tender. Drain and combine with remaining ingredients in a bowl. Mash as you would potatoes. Wonderful when served with poultry, pork, or a roast. This side is also quite nice with vegetarian casseroles.
FOR DIP
- 1 tsp MAPLE SUGAR
- 1/3 cup whipped cream or yogurt
Blend thoroughly. Best when left to sit 1 hour before enjoying.
Photo Credit: Julie Cecchini
Comments