Maple Maple, Strong And Yum-O!

Remember this post where I talked about the best syrup ever?  Well, I went back to Madava Farms, home of Crown Maple Syrup yesterday with my Garden Club for a formal tour of the sugar house.

This place is impressive.  Driving up to the sugar house, you see thousands of trees tapped and hosed up to draw the sap from the maple trees.  With 40,000 taps, the old bucket hanging on the tree has certainly been surpassed.

Jacob, the Executive Chef, Taster, and pretty much runs the whole show, gave us a very thorough tour.  He first explained that typically there are only about 20 prime sap days in a season.  So that means that the entire yearly production of Crown Maple Syrup happens within 20 days.  Who knew?!  And the maple syrup process begins on the same day the sap is collected so it’s as fresh as possible.

Touring through all of the processes of turning sap into maple syrup was impressive, and certainly makes one appreciate the fact that it takes between 40-50 gallons of sap to make a gallon of pure maple syrup.  The process is actually pretty extensive.  To read about the entire process of making Crown Maple Syrup, click here.

At the end of our tour, we got to sample the different grades of maple syrup, and it’s amazing the difference each grade tastes.  All are delicious!  We also got to taste maple sugar.  Pretty unbelievable as well!

We were served a delicious maple syrup inspired lunch after our tour, and I pretty much rolled back to my car.

This tour of Crown Maple Syrup inspired me to make an entire meal honoring the syrup.  We were served a Maple Brioche Bread Pudding for dessert, which was divine, and I ate it slowly so I could try to replicate the recipe.  I accomplished what I set out to do.

Feast your eyes, my friends.   I dedicated an entire meal to Crown Maple Syrup.

 Chipotle Maple Pork Tenderloin  Maple Bread Pudding with Maple Ice Cream

Here is my menu:

Arugula with a Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette, accompanied by Chipotle-Maple Pork Tenderloin.

For dessert:

Maple Brioche Bread Pudding ala Be Fed Again, topped with Maple Ice Cream, with Maple Meringues on the side.

Enjoy.  You’re welcome.

For the Chipotle Maple Pork recipe, click here.

For the Maple Brioche Bread Pudding recipe, click here.

For the Maple Ice Cream recipe, click here.