Here in New England, the muddy days of March can often make it feel like the green days of spring will never arrive. To help sweeten the transition (and we mean that literally), mother nature has kindly also made March the season for maple sugaring and maple festivals. Each year, seemingly overnight, the sturdy tin buckets appear on the trunks of maple trees across the region, gathering the sap that will make its way into countless syrup jugs and maple candy molds. Just the sight of the cheerful buckets makes our teeth ache in anticipation.
Maple Candy | An Old-Fashioned Treat Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Pure maple syrup (what’s left when the sap is heated until most of the water evaporates, leaving a concentrated syrup behind) gets most of the maple sugar glory, but there are many who also look forward to an annual maple candy treat, be it a single piece or an entire gift box. Prized for its crumbly-meets-creamy texture and deep maple flavor, maple candy is made when the sap is heated beyond the syrup stage to the crystalline stage, where it’s then whipped and poured into decorative molds to harden. The results are both beautiful (thanks to the molds) and delicious.
The maple leaf is the most common shape for maple candy, but you also frequently see pilgrim-style figures, seasonal shapes, and New England icons like moose and lobster. The candy is a popular tourist souvenir and can be found in many gift shops throughout New England, but it’s also widely available online should you find yourself craving maple at any time throughout the year. This large maple leaf example comes from the New Hampshire-based Ben’s Sugar Shack.
A sweet maple sugar leaf from Ben’s Sugar Shack. Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
For maple fans that want a quick (and pure) fix without resorting to a stack of pancakes, maple candy is a perfect (and portable) solution, and when a candy looks as pretty as this one does, who can resist? Are you a fan of maple candy?
This post was first published in 2015 and has been updated.
Aimee Tucker is Yankee Magazine’s Home Editor and the Senior Digital Editor of NewEngland.com. A lifelong New Englander and Yankee contributor since 2010, Aimee has written columns devoted to history, foliage, retro food, and architecture, and regularly shares her experiences in New England travel, home, and gardening. Her most memorable Yankee experiences to date include meeting Stephen King, singing along to a James Taylor Fourth of July concert at Tanglewood, and taking to the skies in the Hood blimp for an open-air tour of the Massachusetts coastline.
