Maple Sugar Candy: the Perfect Dessert for Which Time of Year?
Do you often associate a tasty dessert with a particular time of year? Like ice cream with summer and pumpkin pie with autumn? If you're a big fan of maple sugar candy, maybe you've wondered from time to time: what is the best season in which to enjoy it?
Winter is a great time to make the candy, because:
The air (even inside the house) tends to be crisper and cooler. Why does that matter? Because a crucial step in making homemade maple candy is to stir the syrup vigorously after you've boiled it and let it cool off to about 141F or so. The point of stirring is to beat air into the maple while it cools into a solid state, so that it's just the right consistency (golden, and like butter). When the air is relatively cool and crisp, the maple dissipates heat more quickly, which means less stirring for you, and more time to enjoy your candy.
You can mold the maple candy into all kinds of holiday-themed shapes. (Not that you can't do this any other time of year, if you really wanted to!)
Maple sugar candy is a great holiday gift.
Spring has a unique claim on being "maple candy season," because:
Spring is when sugaring season starts. If you're fortunate enough to have your own sugar maples, this is (as you'd of course know) when the sap starts flowing. Or if you buy your syrup from a farm or the local market, springtime means a replete stock of syrup awaiting you.
Homemade maple candy makes a thoughtful Mother's Day or Father's Day gift, graduation gift, or snack for any newlyweds you know who might have a June wedding.
Summer doesn't sound likely…but wait:
Maple candy saves great without even taking up valuable space in your freezer or fridge. Once you're done cooking it, just leave it out to cool and let off steam for a few hours (or even overnight), stick it in a Tupperware box, and keep it in room temperature. It can be great even after 6 weeks or so, and actually stays fresh better than if you put it in the refrigerator, in which it can collect condensation after awhile.
It goes great on ice cream. It also goes great in ice cream; if you like folding and slicing and dicing various toppings into your ice cream (the way they do at places like Cold Stone Creamery), a little bit of maple candy is a great addition to the mixture.
Though maple candy requires that you boil a pot of syrup, you still don't have to heat up the oven.
Fall is of course also a great time, because:
Anything maple-related fits right in with the autumn leaves, pumpkins, and apple cider.
Maple candy is the perfect addition to any Thanksgiving table. You can make it ahead of time, so that you have a great dessert at hand without having to do your baking in an already-crowded kitchen. A couple of cups of syrup, when turned into candy, will probably be more than enough for the entire extended family.
Which season is the best for this unique dessert? All of them (corny, I know)! If you know how to make maple candy at home for low cost, no hassle, perfect every time, I'll bet you would agree that it is great year-round.
