For those of you who have a ready supply of maple syrup and want to try making some candy, my husband Arthur came up with this maple candy recipe. It’s so good we almost can’t keep the family from devouring each batch immediately.
If you want to try selling some, plan on making about five pounds from each gallon of syrup. We started out charging $1.50 per pound or $7.50 for the whole batch, but after factoring in the added butter, cream, and nuts we realized that price gave no increased return over selling just the plain syrup. So we’re thinking about going up to $1.75 or $2.00.
If you’re not planning to sell any, you may want to cut the batch in half.
Maple Candy
1 gallon maple syrup
1/4 pound butter
nuts (optional)
Boil the syrup until it reaches 220° F. Then add the cream and butter. Stir them in well and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the candy reaches the softball stage. Remove the pan from the fire, set it in cold water, and stir until the mixture starts to thicken. Then add the nuts and pour the candy into a buttered dish to cool.
My mother has suggested that the candy will be creamier if it’s allowed to cool undisturbed at 210°F, but we haven’t tried this so we don’t know for sure if the idea works.
