It's a fun and easy winter project to make Maple Syrup Snow Candy in your own back yard. All you need is a pan full of clean snow and some hot maple syrup. Start a sweet new tradition with this old-fashioned activity.
Sunshine on fluffy white snow. Sweet treats. Big smiles.
We're making Maple Syrup Snow Candy. Come join us.
Cold winter nights and warm sunny days - the conditions are right for 'sugaring off'. This is the season to collect the sap rising in the maple trees in Québec, here in Canada (and areas of northeastern U.S.), usually from late February to late April. The maple tree sap is boiled down to make that most delectable of nectars - maple syrup.
And when you boil maple syrup a little longer, it becomes sticky and chewy and toffeelike. Pour it onto some clean, fluffy snow to cool quickly, and it rolls up easily into a ball of deliciousness on a stick.
Gather any willing kids, big or small, and have a blast making Maple Syrup Snow Candy, just like Laura Ingalls did in 'Little House on the Prairie'. It's a fun and easy winter activity.
Even Pippa wants to get in on the action.
What You'll Need
- 100% pure maple syrup
- a saucepan and a candy thermometer
- clean, fresh snow (loose, fluffy snow is best)
- a baking pan to hold the snow
- wooden popsicle sticks, or short pieces of twigs from safe trees, like fruit trees, poplars, maples, birches, alders, etc. (no toxic trees or shrubs, for obvious reasons)
How to Make Maple Syrup Snow Candy
You can do this outside if it's a nice winter day, or bring the pan of snow inside to make the candy if it's a deep-freezing kind of day. We enjoyed one of those gloriously sunny mild winter days when my niece Oschean and her little guy Caleb popped over for our Maple Syrup Snow Candy party.
First you'll need some clean, fresh snow. The fluffy kind is best. Pack it firmly into a large baking pan or tray.
Then boil up some 100% pure maple syrup in a pot until it reaches the soft ball stage. A candy thermometer makes it easy to know when it's done.
Then quickly take your pot out to the pan full of snow (or bring the pan inside, if it's too cold outside), and pour thin trails of the hot syrup onto the cold snow. Take a wooden popsicle stick or clean non-toxic twig and touch it to one end of the maple trail. As you roll up the stick, the hardening candy will form a maple syrup snow candy lollipop on the end.
Crystals of snow will stick to the maple lollipop, but they'll melt delicously as you lick the candy.
This is a most fun wintertime activity. Why not start a Maple Syrup Snow Candy tradition to celebrate the joys of being outside on a sunny winter day?
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Guten Appetit!
Maple Syrup Snow Candy
Equipment
- candy thermometer
- 12-15 wooden popsicle sticks or clean, food-safe twigs (5-6 inches/12-15cm long)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240ml) pure maple syrup
- clean snow
Instructions
- Prepare a large pan (9x13-inch/22x33cm or larger) by filling it with fresh, fluffy, clean snow. Pack it down firmly and smooth the top. Keep the pan outside if it's cool enough, or put it into the refrigerator or freezer to keep cold while you prepare the syrup.
- Boil the maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, until it hits the soft ball stage - the temperature reaches between 235-240℉ (113-115℃) on a candy thermometer - about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Take the pot of hot syrup immediately outside to the pan of snow (or remove the snow pan from the fridge or freezer if making the candy inside) and pour a thin stream of hot syrup onto the snow in a 5-6-inch (12-15cm) strip. Lay the tip of a popsicle stick or twig onto one end of the syrup trail, then roll it up, wrapping the hardening syrup around the end of the stick. There will be bits of snow stuck to the candy - those will melt, leaving only candy on the stick.
- Repeat quickly with the rest of the syrup before it hardens, making 12 to 15 maple syrup lollipops.
- Eat the lollipops immediately or stick the handles into the snow to keep them from sticking together and eat within a few hours. Uneaten maple syrup lollipops can be individually wrapped with parchment paper, stuck into a bigger resealable bag, and frozen for a few days.
Notes
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