Maple sugar

Golden sugar maple tree

Sugar makak - 1925

Maple sugar is a traditional sweetener in the northeastern United States and Canada, prepared from the sap of the sugar maple tree.

Preparation

Maple sugar is what remains after the sap of the sugar maple is boiled for longer than is needed to create maple syrup or maple taffy.^[1] Once almost all the water has been boiled off, all that is left is a solid sugar.^[2] By composition, this sugar is about 90% sucrose, the remainder consisting of variable amounts of glucose and fructose.^[3] This is usually sold in pressed blocks or as a translucent candy.^[4] It is difficult to create as the sugar easily burns and thus requires considerable skill.^[5]

History

Maple sugar was the preferred form of maple by First Nations/Native American peoples as the sugar could easily be transported and lasted a long time. It is called ziinzibaakwad by the Anishinaabeg.^{[6] [7]} Blessing of the Bay, the second ocean-going merchant ship built in the English colonies, carried maple sugar from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to New Amsterdam as early as 1631.^[8]

Uses

It is today used to flavor some maple products and can be used as an alternative to cane sugar. Maple sugar is about twice as sweet as standard granulated sugar.^[9]

Demonstration of Native American technique of making maple sugar

References

1. ^ http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/pdfpubs/7036.pdf
2. ^ http://www.baking911.com/candy/maple.htm
3. ^ http://www.mi-maplesyrup.com/Information/info_maplenutrition.htm
4. ^ http://www.canadianmaplesyrup.com/maplehistory.html
5. ^ http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/pubs/trees.htm
6. ^ Weshki-Ayaad, Lippert and Gambill. Ojibwe-English and English-Ojibwe online dictionary.
7. ^ http://www.morsefarm.com/pages/history.php
8. ^ Clark, William Horace (1938). Ships and Sailors: The Story of Our Merchant Marine. Boston: L.C. Page & Co. pp. 15–17. 
9. ^ http://homecooking.about.com/od/specificfoo1/a/maplestorage.htm