Skip to main content
Good Taste

Why Maple Sugar Needs To Be Your Next Cupboard Essential…

Why Maple Sugar Needs To Be Your Next Cupboard Essential…
Bonraw
Writer and expert1 year ago
View Bonraw's profile

Everybody loves Maple Syrup…

When you think of Canada, you most likely think of Maple Syrup. Our minds are instantly driven to the warm, amber, caramel goodness that we’ve coated on our pancakes for years.

True maple syrup lovers know that pure maple isn’t a combination or a blend and it’s not a flavoured syrup. Pure maple syrup is as fresh as the sap straight from the Maple tree. After the Maple tree has been tapped and the sap is collected, the farmers will then boil it to create the syrup. The result is natural and delicious. The process is simple and ensures that all the nutritious goodness is retained.

Canada is responsible for 80% of the world’s production of maple syrup, with the province of Quebec producing 90% of Canada’s supply. Quebec is home to 11,300 artisan businesses that produce this supply of Maple syrup. Therefore, making Maple Syrup a very important part of Canada’s economy. Quebec ensures high-quality Maple syrup, as it’s the only province where every barrel of syrup is independently inspected and graded.

The unique characteristics of maple syrup are formed by Eastern Canada’s natural geography and climate. Maple season occurs when temperatures at night are below freezing, and daytime temperatures are above freezing, this is when the sap will flow. Clear sap flows in early-Spring after enduring the frost-thaw phenomenon brought on by fluctuations in the temperature throughout the Winter, the sap is collected through late winter to early Spring. The early Spring is known as the ‘sugaring-off season’, this is when the Maple trees are tapped. Depending on when the sap is collected will determine what grade of maple syrup you get. The darker the maple the stronger the flavour, it will reach its darkest later on in the sugaring-off season.

How well do you know Maple Sugar?

With the much-loved Canadian Maple Syrup, where does Maple Sugar come in? Maple Sugar is made by simply boiling the syrup into the finest granules, resulting in a melt-in-the-mouth sugar, exploding with tasting notes on the tongue. This very simple process opens the door to culinary versatility from sponges, biscuits to cooking and sprinkling. The flavour is identical, but the texture opportunities are wider. Sweet and savoury dishes can be elevated with these fine granules. The crunchy texture alone is a tremendous addition to any dessert or meal.

Foodies have been using Maple Sugar as a substitute for their refined sugar for years. Using it to add a depth of flavour to their cookies or banana bread recipes. It’s time to put your apron back on and get cooking with a natural wonder that is quite simply, Maple Sugar.

Cooking with Maple Sugar

Start with something simple, caramelize some onions or carrots with a spoonful of maple sugar, and then roast them off for a plate of deeply flavoured sweet-glazed veggies.

Creating a glaze is an excellent place to get going when cooking with Maple Sugar, now let’s make things a little saucier. Maple Sugar is a perfect candidate for homemade sticky teriyaki sauce, the complex flavours add a new intensity to your week-night stir-fry which simply doesn’t exist in standard brown sugar. Don’t stop there. Make your own salad dressing. Combine Maple Sugar with Dijon mustard, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar to create an emulsion. Then season how you please! You can take this a step further and create homemade mayo-free coleslaw with this recipe.

And now you’re cooking. The more you get-to-know Maple Sugar the more you’ll understand its unique characteristics which make cooking, baking, and sprinkling with it incredibly easy. We know how sweet works in baking but the more we understand how sugar can work in cooking the wider and better our taste experiences will be. Your taste buds will thank you, and Maple Sugar is a delicious way to begin your foray into cooking with sugar.

To provide you with an extra hand in the kitchen, we’ve broken down our 5 favourite Maple Sugar recipes here.

Time to hit the e-shops…

BONRAW’s Organic Fine Maple Sugar is available in our e-shop and on Amazon. We source our Maple from a 3rd generation sugar bush family business in Quebec, they specialise in sourcing the finest quality Maple Sugar sustainably and ethically. BONRAW’s Maple Sugar boasts award-winning taste and tremendous health benefits. Our natural and pure Maple is high in manganese, zinc, and calcium which is excellent for the body’s general health. BONRAW’s light golden Maple granules dissolve quickly in the mouth and coat it with a wonderfully warm and delicate maple flavour. It’s a cupboard essential with minimal intervention, a true natural gift from Mother Nature.

Well, all that’s left to say is thank you, Canada (and the people who make it possible). We’re indebted to you for all your passionate hard work to bring the finest and purest maple into our lives. We just can’t get enough.

Shop BONRAW Organic Fine Maple Sugar.

Bonraw
Writer and expert
View Bonraw's profile
bonrawfoods