March Into Maple Syrup Season

With the arrival of March comes hope, more daylight, and a new season of local harvesting in Elgin County. As much as I try to preserve the bounty produced by our local farmers when food is ripe, I'm not at the stage of being 100% sustainable all year round - and I probably never will be. I do the best that I can, when I can, but like the majority of people I resort to imported fresh fruits & vegetables when locally grown isn't available.

When March rolls in (like a lamb or like a lion?), one the first local food products to become available in the new year is ooey gooey, sweet & succulent, take-me-to-the-sugar-shack maple syrup.

The flavour, colour, aroma, texture, and versatility of maple syrup make it a favourite in my pantry. Although the price of the real stuff may intimidate some shoppers, I think it is worth the cost as an occasional treat. The bottles of 'table syrup' are filled with artificially coloured and flavoured high-fructose corn syrup and are in no way close to replicating the complexity and depth of the tree-sourced liquid gold. Authentic maple syrup contains just one ingredient: sugar maple sap.

The sugar shanty's will be open this weekend offering demos and tastings of local syrup. Take a little day-trip, enjoy the great outdoors and pick up a bottle to bring home to prepare the first of many maple treats this month : Maple Budino.

Maple Syrup Budino with Maple Caramel Sauce, Chocolate Cookie Crumbs, and Whipped Cream

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What is Budino?

Budino is Italian for pudding. Inspired by a recipe for Caramel Budino from Bon Appétit, I've replaced the white and brown sugar with maple syrup then layered the pudding with dark chocolate cookie crumbs (slightly salty and very crunchy), maple caramel sauce, and whipped cream. The result is an incredibly sweet, rich and decadent dessert with contrasting textures.

The cookie crumbs, pudding and caramel sauce can all be prepared in advance. The assembled dessert can be put together a day before it's needed, but I recommend spooning the whipped cream and crumb garnish on top just before serving.

You really want the intense maple flavour to come through in this dessert so use the highest quality syrup you can find. If your syrup isn't as maple-y as it could be (early syrup is typically weaker flavoured than late season syrup), reduce 1 1/2 cups of maple syrup down to 1 cup by boiling it in a pot on the stove.

Maple Budino With Maple Caramel Sauce - Recipe

Makes 8 portions

Chocolate Crumb

2/3 c all purpose unbleached flour
1 t cornstarch
1/2 c sugar
2/3 c cocoa powder
1 t + 1/8 t kosher salt
6 T + 2 T unsalted butter, melted

• Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

• Combine flour, cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder, and 1 t salt together in a bowl. Pour in 6 T melted butter and mix together until evenly coated.

• Pour chocolate mixture onto the cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the crumbs. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

• Place cookie crumbs in a food processor and pulse into small pieces. (Alternately, place them in a zip-seal bag and smash with a rolling pin). *At this point you could store the crumbs for a later use.

• Place 1 c of the chocolate crumbs into a small bowl and to them add: 2 T of melted butter and 1/8 t of kosher salt. (Reserve the remaining cookie crumbs for the garnish.)

• Divide the buttered crumbs into 8 small bowls or parfait glasses. Gently press into the bottom of the dishes and refrigerate.

Maple Budino

3 c milk
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 c maple syrup
1 t kosher salt
5 egg yolks (save the whites for a future recipe)
3 T butter, cubed
2 t spiced rum (optional)

• Heat milk in a medium sized pot until it just comes to a boil.

• Mix yolks and cornstarch together; stir in maple syrup and salt.

• Slowly pour 1/2 c of hot milk into the egg mixture while stirring constantly with a whisk. Add another 1/2 c of milk and keep stirring. Repeat once more for a total of 3 times. After the 3rd time, pour the egg/milk mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk while stirring constantly. (This step is called 'tempering' and ensures the eggs don't scramble when being combined with a hot liquid.)

• Over medium heat, constantly stir the pudding until it begins to thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Once the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (or a thermometer registers 170°F), remove from the heat and stir in cubed butter and rum.

• To ensure a velvety smooth texture, use an immersion blender to puree or pass the pudding through a fine-mesh strainer.

• Spoon 1/2 c of pudding into each chocolate crumbed parfait glass and chill until set, 3-4 hours. (Crumbed is a new verb I just made up.)

Maple Caramel Sauce

1/2 c maple syrup
3/4 c 35% cream
4 T cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pure vanilla extract

• In a saucepan over medium high heat, boil maple syrup until it reduces slightly. Carefully pour in cream and stir until thick and smooth, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cubed butter, salt, and vanilla. Set aside to cool. Once chilled, pour over the set maple pudding in the parfait glasses.

Whipped Cream

1 c 35% cream
1 T maple syrup OR 1 T powdered sugar + 1/4 t pure vanilla extract

• Whip heavy cream to stiff peaks. Stir in maple syrup or sugar/vanilla.

• Spoon whipped cream onto caramel topped budinos then garnish with the reserved chocolate crumbs.

Buon appetito!