A drop in the bucket
The maple sugaring season starts by breaking trails through a winters worth of snow. You haul buckets, tubing and the tools needed to mount them to maple trees. Once installed you listen for the sound of the maple sap harvest to begin as it unfolds one drop at a time, and you busy yourself with cutting wood and early forest management practices.
As the day’s progress and the weather warms, the sap’s dripping becomes almost a trickle and you begin to focus your attention on the collecting and the rendering stage of maple syrup production.
The boiling stage of making syrup requires a watchful eye. You need to keep your fires burning and take the temperature frequently in the final moments to make sure you syrup finishes at the correct temperature. I have lost a few good pans and gallons of syrup to neglect in the past.
As the maple sugaring season draws to a close you can find yourself in a tsunami of sap and it can be a challenge keeping up to with all those drops in the bucket. Sometimes you go without sleep in these last days of syrup making which can influence your thoughts at times.
It’s in these moments that I find myself surrounded with so much sap, partially boiled syrup and finished syrup that I begin experimenting with different recipes. Using the syrup when it’s about half way to being syrup I like to use it for making sorbet, poaching eggs or salmon and running through the coffee maker instead of water.
This year I’ve taken to drinking my sap and syrup more so than cooking with it. As a result I’ve been able to create some of my own original cocktail recipes which I’m going to share here with you first.
The recipes are easy to prepare and can be enjoyed either with or without the alcohol listed in the recipes. If you do not have access to partially boiled sap you can substitute water downed maple syrup just make sure you are using Pure Maple Syrup and not table syrup.
Kawartha Steamer
Ingredients:
3oz half boiled syrup
4oz whole fat milk
1½ oz. Canadian Vodka
Method:
Heat the syrup and the milk up to 90 °c and pour them into a coffee mug. Pour in the vodka and sip away. If you have a method for steaming and frothing your milk combine the ingredients and froth it up.
North Kawarthan
This is the same as the Kawartha Steamer with the variation being that it is served chilled over ice in a rocks glass.
Kawartha Kicker
This is the same as the Kawartha Steamer with the variation of using Canadian Whiskey in place of vodka.
Kawartha Colada
Ingredients:
3oz half boiled syrup
1½ oz. spiced rum
4oz whole fat milk
3 oz. pineapple juice
1 cup crushed ice
Method:
Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend the ingredients together on medium speed until all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated. A Kawartha Colada should be smooth, sweet, and creamy. Pour the ingredients into a cocktail glass and enjoy.
Kawartha Coffee
Ingredients:
3oz half boiled syrup
1oz whole fat milk
1 ½ oz Canadian Whiskey
4oz fresh brewed coffee
Method:
Heat the syrup and the milk up to 90 °c and pour them into a coffee mug. Pour in the whiskey and top it up with coffee.
Kawartha Cappuccino
Ingredients:
2oz half boiled syrup
2oz whole fat milk
1½ oz. spiced rum
3 oz. fresh brewed coffee
Ground cinnamon
Whipped cream (optional)
Method:
Heat the syrup and the milk up to 90 °c and pour them into a coffee mug. Pour in the spiced rum and top up with coffee. If you have a method for steaming and frothing your milk combine the ingredients and froth it up. Top with ground cinnamon and or whipped cream.
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