as requested by Aline, this weeks topic is Maple syrup…
i always add this to my carrots with butter after boiling them or steaming them…and i must admit i love it on sausages
Maple Pecan Fudge
¾ cup pecans, chopped
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup whipping cream
½ cup pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
Grease 8-in. (2 L) square glass baking dish; line with foil; leaving 1-in. overhang. Grease foil and set aside.
Grease side of heavy saucepan. Add sugar, cream, maple syrup, butter and pinch of baking soda. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly with wooden spoon until dissolved and boiling. If mixture does not foam up high when it boils, stir in remaining baking soda.
Boil without stirring for 8 minutes or until candy thermometer registers soft-ball stage of 238ºF (114ºC) or 1/2 tsp. syrup dropped into very cold water forms soft ball that flattens when removed from water. Immediately pour into clean wide-bottomed bowl, without scrapping pan clean. Let cool on rack to 100º F (38º C) 1 to 2 hours.
With wooden spoon, beat in vanilla. Beat for about 7 minutes or until very thick and most of the gloss disappears. (Or use heavy-duty mixer with paddle attachment and beat fudge at medium-low speed for about 15 minutes.)
Quickly stir in pecans. Immediately scrape into prepared pan; smooth top. Let cool on rack.
Using foil overhang as handles, remove from pan; cut into squares. Yield: 1 lb.
14-Minute Maple Candy
4 cups maple syrup
1 cup cream
¼ cup butter
1 cup nut meats, chopped
1 tsp lemon extract
Cook the maple syrup, cream and butter for 9 minutes after the boiling point is reached.
Remove from heat, add the nut meats and extract and stir for 5 minutes.
Pour into buttered pans and when cool, cut into squares.
PECAN PIE SUPURB: Best you will ever taste!
1 CUP PURE MAPLE SYRUP (do not substitute)
1 CUP GRANULATED SUGAR
4 TBLS. REAL BUTTER (do not substitute)
4 LARGE EGGS
1 TBLS. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
1 9-INCH UNBAKED PIECRUST OR FROZEN DEEP-DISH PIECRUST
1 1/2 CUPS PECAN HALVES OR LARGE PECAN PIECES
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 3-quart saucepan, cook maple syrup, sugar and butter over medium heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat to medium –low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
- In a large bowl, with whisk, beat eggs slightly: slowly whisk in hot syrup mixture. Stir in vanilla.
- Place unbaked crust on cookie sheet. Place pecans in crust. Pour syrup mixture over pecans.
- Bake pie 45 to 50 minutes of until filling is just set. Cool pie on wire rack at least one hour.
- Serve warmed or cold, with or without ice cream.
Author: Chef Wendy Park, The Beaufort Grocery Co., Beaufort, North Carolina – Featured in Good Housekeeping, November 2002
P.S. Our pastor and his wife say this is the best Pecan Pie they ever had. (It’s because of the real Maple Syrup)