To make maple syrup snow candy (also known as snow taffy or maple syrup taffy) all you need are two things: real maple syrup and clean, fresh snow!
WHAT IS MAPLE SYRUP SNOW CANDY?
Maple syrup snow candy is candy in its simplest form. It’s made by pouring boiling maple syrup on a clean bed of snow. The cold snow instantly stops the syrup from cooking, and cools it to the consistency of taffy in seconds.
Making maple candy or maple taffy this way is a popular winter tradition here in Canada . It’s a regular activity at outdoor winter carnivals and at maple syrup festivals in late winter and early spring. This is when the maple trees are tapped, and the sap from the trees is collected in buckets and boiled into maple syrup.
Today I’m going to show you how to make this Canadian treat in your own back yard, in 3 easy steps.
To tell you the truth, we did not make this batch of candy outside. The temperatures this past weekend were nearing -40, which made conditions unbearable out in the yard, so we brought the snow inside and made our candy in the comfort of our house.
HOW TO MAKE MAPLE SYRUP SNOW CANDY
INGREDIENTS AND SUPPLIES:
- bed of clean snow
- real maple syrup (see note below for amount)
- wooden popsicle sticks
- clean, fresh snow
- sauce pan or a small pot
- candy thermometer
- baking sheet (if making your candy indoors)
HOW MUCH MAPLE SYRUP DO YOU NEED TO MAKE MAPLE SYRUP CANDY?
Many recipes call for 2 cups of maple syrup, but that is a LOT of syrup. We only wanted to make a few pieces of candy. We used 1/4 cup, which yielded 2 maple syrup candy pops and a couple of individual pieces of maple candy.
By real maple syrup, I mean 100% PURE; nothing artificial added.
PREPARING YOUR SNOW TO MAKE SNOW CANDY
If you’ll be making your candy outdoors, pack down an area of snow. You want this area to be very firm so it holds the hot syrup. Alternatively, you could fill a platter or a baking sheet with a layer of packed down snow.
Obviously, if you’re working inside, like we were, you’ll need to use the platter or baking sheet.
HOW TO MAKE SNOW CANDY IN 3 EASY STEPS
INGREDIENTS:
- Pour your syrup into a small pot and heat until boiling. Once boiling, the syrup will start to bubble. Using a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature, continue to boil the syrup until it reaches the “soft ball” stage (235-240 degrees farenheit). If you pass the soft ball stage, don’t worry. Your candy will just be more crunchy than chewy.
- Remove the pot from the heat and pour your syrup in lines on the snow. BE CAREFUL. The syrup is VERY hot.
- Press a craft/popsicle stick into the syrup and then as the syrup is cooling, roll it up around the stick.
You can also pour small puddles of syrup on the snow to make individual pieces of candy.
