Is Your Maple Sugar Candy Too ...Not Absolutely Perfect?
It can be very easy to make perfect, smooth, golden maple sugar candy. But it is also easy to mess it up. If you have made maple candy a couple times but find that it's too much of this or not enough of that, chances are there's an easy tweak to your method that will get your candy coming out just right.
Is your maple candy:
Grainy? If it looks nice and golden and has a mostly smooth texture but tastes a little grainy (sort of like sugar at the bottom of your coffee), then the problem is that you're stopping stirring too early. Once the maple syrup has cooled down to 141F (after you have stopped boiling it and have put it in a bowl to cool), you should stir briskly until the maple candy reaches the consistency of cookie dough and you find it really hard to keep stirring.
Crusty after a day? The problem is that the candy is drying out just a little too much. Store it in an airtight plastic container, after letting it cool for at least 2-3 hours (depending on whether you made a big batch or a little batch).
Hard and maybe a little chewy? One way to explain this is that if you try to cool it on a slate the way some candy makers cool fudge, it's extremely likely not enough air will enter the candy, because you're not whipping it. The solution is to stir it in a bowl.
Too expensive? Buy your syrup in bulk. Smaller bottles cost a fortune; they make really good gifts, but you're partly paying for nice packaging, and chances are you'll need at least one per decent-sized batch, which can really add up. Wholesale clubs are the place to buy big jugs of it--and by "big" I mean most wholesale clubs have 48oz-bottles. You'll probably use it all up on great homemade maple candy, but if you have a little left over, the syrup will probably find its way onto some pancakes.
Too time-consuming to make? Try making small batches, like perhaps 1 cup at a time. It's quicker to boil, quicker to cool, and quicker and easier to stir.
