Maple-Miso-Loaf-Cake

On Monday, the day of the blizzard, Maple Trout Lilli wrote:

I keep my eye out all year long for maple recipes that sound, well not just okay, but really, really, good. I came across this recipe from Dorie Greenspan just the other day and decided I’d give it a go.  Finding sweet inspiration in something salty like miso seemed like a good bet.  She developed this recipe to be sweet enough to be called a cake, but savory enough to serve with cheese.  Interesting right?

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp (4 oz), + more for the pan

1 ¾ cup/238 grams all purpose flour

1 ¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup/150 grams granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Finely grated zest of one orange

¼ cup/70 grams white miso paste

¼ cup/60 milliliters pure maple syrup

2 large eggs at room temp

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup/80 milliliters buttermilk (well shaken before measuring)

¼ Cup/80 grams orange marmalade or apricot jam (optional for glaze)

PREPARATION

Step 1

Center rack in middle of the oven and heat oven to 350º.

Butter an 81/2 inch loaf pan and dust with sugar.

Step 2

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Put the sugar, salt and zest in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Rub ingredients together until the sugar is moist and fragrant.  Add butter, miso and maple syrup to the sugar mixture.

Step 3

Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed, until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  One by one add the eggs, beating for a minute after each goes in.  Beat in the vanilla.  Turn off the mixer and add dry ingredients all at once and pulse to begin the blending, turning the mixer on and off in short spurts on low speed.  Then, beat on low speed until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated.  With the mixer still on low, pour in buttermilk and blend well.  Scrape batter unto the pan, working it into the corners and smoothing the top.

Step 4

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, checking the loaf after 40 minutes and covering the top loosely with foil or tented parchment if it’s beginning to brown too fast.    It is properly baked when it pulls away from the sides of the pan and a tester, inserted in the center, comes out clean.  Transfer to a rack and let rest for 5 minutes, then run a table knife around the edges of the loaf and unmold onto a rack; turn it right side up.

Step 5

If you’d like to glaze, stir marmalade or jam w/1 tablespoon water and heat until it just comes to a boil.  Using a pastry brush or spoon, cover the top of the loaf with the glaze.  Allow to cool at room temp before slicing.  Wrapped well, it keeps for about 4 days at room temp.  After that, it’s always good toasted lightly.

—MTL

“…it keeps for about 4 days…” Correction: There is none left to keep after two hours, not at Nebraska Knoll, not on a blizzard day.

Maple Macaroons

Maple Trout Lilli writes:

If you’re a coconut lover, you’ll want to make these moist, chewy macaroons all the time, not just for Easter treats.  They have a very subtle, lingering maple flavor that’s sure to satisfy your maple cravings any time of year.

INGREDIENTS
Yield:  About 18 Macaroons
3 large egg whites (room temp)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup /151 grams  maple sugar
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil, melted
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoons coconut flour
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Flaky salt, for sprinkling (optional)

PREPARATION

1 – Position racks in the top and bottom of oven then preheat to 325 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2 – In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites, salt and sugar until thick, creamy and white.  Whisk in one tablespoon of coconut oil and the vanilla.

3 –  Fold in the coconut and the flour, mixing well so the coconut is evenly moistened.  At this point, the macaroons can be baked, but you can also refrigerate the mixture in an airtight container for up to two days

4 – Use a small 1 ounce cookie scoop to portion the coconut mixture (about 2 tablespoons per macaroon) and squeeze together in a ball.  Space a few inches apart on the prepared sheets and rough up the texture a little with your fingers.

5 – Bake, switching the pans from back to front and top to bottom until golden on the bottom and toasty all over, 16 to 21 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

6 –  Melt the chocolate with remaining ½ teaspoon of coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat and stir well.  Drizzle the macaroons with the chocolate and let it set in a cool place before topping with flaky salt.

NOTE:  I made the coconut mixture and kept in the fridge, baking ½ the next day and the reminder the following day – it held up great.  So, it’s very flexible and forgiving.

-MTL

This macaroon is a cousin to the coconut cream egg tucked into the memory basket of childhood Easters.

Here is Nebraska Knoll sugar. We pack it in 1-lb. and 1/2-lb. bags and call it Maple Snow.

Maple Mousse

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Maple Mousse

A cherished dessert first tasted in Vermont near "Snuggler's Notch" when skiing with family

Boil 1-1/4 cups maple syrup for 1 minute.  Beat 4 egg yolks until thick and fluffy.  Slowly pour hot syrup onto yolks, beating.  Cook in double boiler over hot water, stirring, until custard coats back of metal spoon.  Soften 1-tablespoon gelatin in 3-tablespoons cold water for 3 minutes.  Add to custard.  (I usually use half the softened gelatin so it isn’t too stiff). Stir to dissolve.  Remove.  Cool until syrupy.  Fold in 1-cup cream whipped with 1-teaspoon vanilla. Pour into small teacups or custard dishes.  Chill 2 hours.  Garnish with sweetened whipped cream and shaved chocolate.  Makes 8 quarter cup servings.

Submitted by Elizabeth W.

Maple Syrup Cookies

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Maple Syrup Cookies

An old Vermont recipe described as “nice to come home to.” We think they are nice to take on family car trips.

1 cup maple syrup
½ cup soft butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup milk
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Beat syrup and better to a cream. Add eggs, well beaten, and vanilla. Add milk alternately with flour mixed and sifted with baking powder and salt. You may roll these cookies out, but I just drop them on the greased cookie sheet and flatten with a glass dipped in milk. Bake 10-12 minutes at 400.

Audrey’s Pumpkin Pie Or Custard

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Audrey’s Pumpkin Pie Or Custard

Mix together:
1 pint milk
1 ½ cups pumpkin
2 eggs (beaten)
½ tsp. salt
½ cup maple syrup (or less, to taste)
½ T. cinnamon
½ T. ginger

Pour into pie crust. Bake at 450 for ten minutes, then at 325 for twenty or thirty minutes, or until firm.

For custard, bake in a greased baking dish at 325 until firm.

Pumpkin Pie

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Pumpkin Pie
From the kitchen of Audrey Coty

Connecticut College
COOK BOOK

It’s a navy blue hardback book the size of a smart phone. Inside the cover is this photo:

This pocket cookbook was published in 1922 by the Connecticut College Endowment Fund. It came to me from the home of my grandfather-in-law, Daddy Lewis, who lived on Shelter Island, across Long Island Sound by ferry from New London, CT.

Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:
     One day a friend of Aunt Colie was giving a party, and asked, as a neighborly favor, that Aunt Colie make a cake for her. The party was a great success and the cake met with such approval that it was suggested, half in fun, that Aunt Colie “go into the business.” As she was a widow, and was quite alone, after some consideration, she did, “go into the business.”

What I notice are the commas, how they pace the reading of that last sentence, how they date the writing.

Each recipe is like a tweet, and most of each page is blank. Aunt Colie assumes the reader will know how hot to make the oven, and how to tell when the cake or pie is thoroughly baked.

*****************************************************************
POPOVERS:

     Make some little time before baking.  One pint milk, 1 pint flour, 2 eggs, salt.  Beat eggs (without separating) then add to them a little of the milk and then a little of the flour-alternating.  Bake in hot buttered pans.

***************************************************************

A sliver of pumpkin pie on the forest floor.

  I want to be Aunt Colie in her big sunny kitchen seeming to consist entirely of windows and bright calendars, and of Aunt Colie in a big white apron, a yellow bowl under her arm, and a big spoon beating, click, click, click, through white frosting.

Did she sing? Was there a grandchild leaning over the table, licking the spoon?

Aunt Colie calls her recipes “rules.” Here is her rule for pumpkin pie, which I have broken by substituting maple syrup for the molasses and sugar. Pumpkin pie rules vary in the ratios of milk (or cream) to pumpkin (or squash )to sugar to eggs to spices. I long ago settled on Aunt Colie’s variation.

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PUMPKIN PIE

1 pint milk                                                                1/2 cup (or less) maple syrup, any grade
1 1/2 cups squash                                                   1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
2 eggs (beaten)                                                        1/2 tablespoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix well together and bake in one crust.  After the pie is in the oven put 3 or 4 spoonfuls of cold milk on top of pie – this makes it brown.

Vinegar Pie

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VINEGAR PIE – It’s Actually Really Good
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

On this blustery Sunday (wind chill 6 degrees), Maple Trout Lilli stayed cozy in her kitchen. She writes:

Normally I don’t associate vinegar with dessert and it’s for this reason that the following recipe grabbed my attention. From another era when you worked with what was locally available and utilized everything.

I came across this reference to Vinegar Pie in a book I’m reading which spans the mid-1800’s to depression era in Vermont.   I did some digging and reworked a recipe I found online to include maple sugar. Why Vinegar?? Because you’re back in the late 1800’s, you’re a pioneer with no access to fresh fruit, you’re resourceful and you’ve exhausted your supply of apples, save a little vinegar in the bottom of the barrel.

I could probably add some other fancy words to this humble title, but I want you all to be intrigued by its name enough to give it a try.

VINEGAR PIE

1 8” pie crust, baked
¼ cup sifted all purpose flour
1 cup maple sugar – divided
1 cup water
3 egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 egg whites
4 tablespoons maple sugar

1. Preheat Oven to 325
2. Mix flour with ½ cup sugar. Add the water gradually and cook on top of a double boiler for 15 minutes, stirring constantly, or until thickened.
3. Combine remaining ½ cup sugar with the yolks and salt. Mix well with a whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add hot flour mixture to the yolk mixture gradually, mixing all the time. Return to the double boiler and cook for 3 minutes or more until the mixture is thick and smooth
4. Add butter, maple syrup and vinegar.     Mix well and remove from heat. Place of piece of waxed paper on top of the custard.
5. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until foamy and gradually add the 3 tablespoons of sugar. Beat until a stiff, flossy peak is achieved.
6. Remove wax paper and pour custard filling into the prebaked shell. Top w/meringue. Place in oven and bake until meringue is nice and brown, about 15 minutes.

-MTL

Creamed Maple Walnut Tart

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That Maple Walnut Combo
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

To get to Nebraska Knoll you follow the road that crosses Miller Brook and swoops sharply right into Nebraska Valley. The first house you pass is Joe and Becky’s on the left. Look to see if their sheep have lambed. You may glimpse a chicken or rabbit in the yard. Notice the skis lined up on the porch, a syrup pan set up in the garage with the smoke stack poking outside. They tap the maples across the road by Miller Brook.

Becky is famous in these parts for remembering and celebrating birthdays. To fˆête her on her May 5th birthday, Maple Trout Lilli lavished her time and talent on creating this exquisite tart:

CREAMED MAPLE WALNUT TART   (Becky’s Birthday Tart)

Remember the days of maple walnut combo… in ice cream, particularly? Well this recipe was adapted by someone who missed that good old New England flavor combination and decided to recreate those special flavors unique to our area.   Pastry crust is fine but this unusual shell is more than just a holding pen for its filling. Think of the possibilities with strawberry season fast approaching.

 Makes one 8X11 inch rectangular tart

½ cup granulated maple sugar
1/2  cup white sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup maple syrup, divided
¾ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
¾ cup unsalted soda crackers, crushed
1 teaspoon baking powder
16 intact walnut halves
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a rectangular tart pan.  A large round one will work too. But regardless of its shape, it’s best to use a removable bottomed pan.

Combine white and maple sugars in a small bowl.  Put the egg whites and salt in a large mixing bowl and beat together at high speed until you get soft peaks. Keep whipping them as you slowly add the sugar, two tablespoons at a time, until the cup of sugar is fully incorporated into egg and you’ve got glossy peaks.  Slowly mix in two tablespoons of maple syrup. Fold in the chopped walnuts, crusted soda crackers and baking powder. Spread the mixture into the prepared tart pan, taking care to make the sides high, so that there is good indentation the middle to hold the maple whipped cream for service.

Bake the shell 25-35 minutes or until the meringue is golden but not brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Refrigerate the shell at least two hours (preferable overnight if you’ve got the time).

Meanwhile put ¼ cup maple syrup in a non-stick skillet and add the walnut halves, coating them with syrup. Heat up the mixture on medium letting the syrup bubble up around the nuts. When the syrup is caramelized and very sticky and the nuts are coated, they are sufficiently candied. Lift the nuts out of the pan one at a time and let them cool separately on lightly buttered parchment.   Store in airtight container, until ready to use.

When you are ready to serve the tart, whip the cream to soft peaks. Add 4 tablespoons of maple syrup and whip the cream a bit more. Spread the cream in the meringue cavity. Top with candied walnuts and serve.  This does keep well in the fridge for several hours.

Maple Infused Caribbean Almond Cake

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MAPLE INFUSED CARIBBEAN ALMOND CAKE
Maple Infused Caribbean Almond Cake
 
A moist, delicious tea cake, perfect for Easter and…… it’s wheat and gluten free!     If I close my eyes and take a bite I’m transported to a breezy, warm beach.  I can almost hear the soft lapping sound of the surf retreating back to the blue sea.  It must be the coconut flour, the taste and smell bringing back memories of a “Black Cake” discovered completely by accident in a little shop on the side of the road on the island of Virgin Gorda.   With the addition of Vermont golden maple sugar this concoction is destined to create fond memories.
Enjoy!
 
3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Maple Sugar
4 Eggs
1/2 Cup Almond Milk
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Almond Meal Flour
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
1/3 Cup Unsweetened Coconut
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth.  Add in eggs, one at a time and beat until fully blended.  Add milk and vanilla and mix until combined. Combine flours, coconut,  salt and baking powder and add to the wet mixture.  Spread into greased cake pan (9×13) or small bundt pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Serve plain with toasted, shredded coconut; or make a maple glaze (confectionary sugar and maple syrup until you reach the consistency of frosting; ) I tried the glaze for this post, but I would opt to leave it plain next time, as the flavor stands alone subperbly.
—Maple Trout Lilli

Maple Blossom Cookies

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Maple Blossom Cookies
 
Maple syrup is just so much of what’s right with the world.   Making it into a cookie can only make it more so.
These Maple Blossom cookies are an extraordinary treat.  Light, crisp and chewy with a distinct maple flavor.   This is a unique treat and one which challenges you to eat just one.

Heck………it’s spring, the sun’s shining, sap’s running and the snow is melting!  It’s the time of year to enjoy winter’s final chapter, visualize the pending  summer’s joys and indulge yourself today utilizing the quintessential ingredient of spring……………MAPLE SYRUP!

Maple Blossom Cookies
2 Cups Maple Syrup
1/2 Cup Butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 Egg
2 cups sifted white flour

Boil the syrup down to one third the amount in a large pot.
The syrup will foam up so keep a close eye on it. This took me
about 1/2 an hour.  Using a candy thermometer, make sure
the temperature doesn’t exceed 250 degrees.
Cool to 212 degrees before stirring in the butter.  If the melted
butter pools on the top of the syrup, heat, stirring
constantly until butter is incorporated.  Cool again, stirring,
until the temperature is below 120 degrees, then add vanilla,
baking powder and egg (make sure temp is below 120 or the egg
will cook.)  Add flour and mix until combined.  Chill overnight or
until thick enough to scoop out solid-like balls of dough.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop out chestnut-sized balls
onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake 12-15 minutes until pale
gold.  They will be soft when they come out.  Carefully transfer
to a cooling rack.

Yield: 36
Adapted from a recipe in the Burlington Free Press 

Melt-in-your-Mouth Maple Shortbread

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MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH MAPLE SHORTBREAD
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli

Here’s an ordinary and traditional treat, familiar to many and elevated to the extraordinary, with the addition of Nebraska Knoll Maple Syrup and Maple Sugar. Now that you’ve created these delectable morsels, what to do with them? Here are just a few possibilities:  toss in your lumberjack’s lunch bucket, place on a doily at your next afternoon tea, bring to Town Meet’n………you’ll think of something! Regardless of the manner of presentation this will put smiles on faces. Sweet, buttery, slightly salty, flaky cookie with the wonderful essence of maple crowned with or without a maple cream cheese glaze……yes, this cookie will take you to the next level.

1 cup soft butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon Nebraska Knoll Maple Syrup
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons Nebraska Knoll Maple Sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly butter a 9″ spring form tart pan with removable sides.

Combine butter, salt and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat til fluffy. Add the maple syrup and combine completely.

Add flour a little at a time until just combined.
Press into a 9″ spring form tart pan. Refrigerate for an hour or up to overnight.

Sprinkle w/ 3 teaspoons maple sugar. With a very sharp knife, slice the dough into 16 wedges and pierce the top of the wedges with a fork’s tines. Bake for about an hour or until it is barely golden on the edges. Cool and remove the outer ring of pan. Re-slice the cookies along the same lines with a sharp knife. Remove from pan. As they cool they will crisp up.

To Frost or Not to Frost. Well, I happened to have some left0ver maple cream cheese frosting in the frig from last week’s project, so I thought I’d slather some on the shortbread and the result was kind of like shortbread gone to finishing school, not necessary but well worth the small amount of effort.

NEBRASKA KNOLL MAPLE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1/2 Cup VT unsalted butter
1/2 Cup cream cheese
2-3 Cups powdered sugar depending on how sweet you like it
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup Nebraska Knoll Maple Syrup
1-2 TBS milk of your choice

Cream butter and cream cheese til smooth. Add powdered sugar, syrup, vanilla and milk.

Time to put another log on the fire. Until next week…….

Maple Trout-Lilli

Maple Meringues

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MAPLE MERINGUES 
The maple sugar in this recipe goes by the name ‘Maple Snow’ up at the sugarhouse. It really does resemble snow, too, with its fine light crystals. 
2 Egg Whites
¼ Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
Pinch of Salt
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon Nebraska Knoll Maple Snow for sprinkling
Preheat oven 225 degrees
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine first three ingredients and beat until soft foamy peaks form.
Gradually add Nebraska Knoll Maple Snow and beat until stiff and glossy.
Sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon of Nebraska Knoll Maple Snow.
Bake for 1 ½  hours.  Turn off heat and leave in oven with the door closed for an additional 1 ½  hours.
Store in an airtight container.
[Adapted from King Arthur Flour]
They are crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and melt in your mouth like sugar-on-snow.

Submitted by Maple-Trout-Lilly

Maple Bread Pudding

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Maple Bread Pudding 
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli
 

Sugar’n at Nebraska Knoll Sugar House combines modern technology with tried and true Yankee ingenuity.  For me, this recipe for Maple Bread Pudding is reminiscent of visits to grandma’s house and a time when simple, common ingredients were utilized to create delicious treats. In addition, it’s a thing of beauty, fresh from the oven, wafting smells ….. comfort food.

This recipe can be served as dessert, to refuel after a hearty day outdoors or to recharge the sugar-making crew. Don’t be afraid to add a dollop of maple syrup or your favorite hard sauce for some added pleasure!

MAPLE BREAD PUDDING

6 slices challah bread
2 tablespoon melted butter
½ cup raisins
3 eggs
1 cup half and half
1 cup almond milk
½ cup Nebraska Knoll Maple Snow
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½  teaspoon  grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest from ½ an orange
Nebraska Knoll Maple Syrup

Whipped Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream (optional)

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350
2.     Toast bread on both sides under the broiler until golden and
chop into bit-sized pieces.  Place in a buttered 8 inch square baking
pan.
3.     Whisk together raisins, eggs, half and half, milk, maple snow,
cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and zest and pour over toasted bread.  Let
sit for ½ hour or so.
4.     Drizzle with melted butter and raisins before going into the oven.
5.     Bake for 40-45 minutes or until top springs back when lightly tapped.
6.     Serve Warm and drizzle with Nebraska Knoll Maple Syrup.
7.     Serve with freshly made whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or
your favorite hard sauce.

Submitted by Maple-Trout-Lilly

From:  Maple-Trout-Lilli
Spring marks the time in Nebraska Valley when all thoughts turn to maple.  Maple to us means: spring, rejuvenation, and making our morning tea/coffee with fresh sap.  The smoke rising above the old Adams barn means Nebraska Sugar knoll is turning sap to syrup.  The warm, vaporous fire, tinged with sweetness and smoke, seems to provide an ideal atmosphere for good conversations; foods of varied flavors and tastes are magically provided by friends and visitors.   While the arch is being prepped for the first boil, why not stoke your inner fire with this delicious, “lite” Sugarhouse Brunch?

MAPLE GLAZED OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

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Not your Every Day Oatmeal Cookies
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli 

Just the ticket for a cold, rainy day in April:

A jazzed-up maple cookie with a delectable maple glaze that  is a rich compliment to this sweet spicy cookie.    I kept the batter in the fridge and made a batch of 12 every day or so. This makes a lot of cookies.  They were  fresh, hot and delicious. – give them a try.

COOKIES

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1/4 cup ripe mashed banana
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins

GLAZE

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup Maple Syrup
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 In a mixer on low speed, cream butter and brown sugar; add eggs, banana, vanilla.
Sift flour and add baking soda, cinnamon, salt.
Combine with butter/sugar mixture and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.
Add oats and raisins and mix on medium speed for a minute.  Try not to over mix.
Place batter in freezer for 15 minutes or fridge for an hour.
Using 1/4 measuring cup scoop batter onto a parchment lined or lightly buttered cookie sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes.

For GLAZE, melt butter and syrup over low heat until fully incorporated.
Remove from heat and add 3/4 cup powdered sugar.
Frost the cookies.