Maple Cream ~ this one ingredient wonder will blow you away ~ imagine a creamy, whipped maple syrup that you can spread like butter on everything from toast and biscuits to pancakes, waffles, and French toast!
I love Minimal Mondays because I get to play in the kitchen. It’s gotten to the point where I really look forward to these posts because there’s no pressure, no huge load of dishes to wash afterwards, no complicated ingredients or instructions to keep straight. I’m free to dabble with something I’ve been curious about and I always come away from the day a little wiser, and with a simple new addition to my kitchen. I’m thrilled about this one. Maple is one of the iconic flavors of fall, but it’s a little bit hard to capture. This Maple Cream is pure unadulterated maple flavor in creamy buttery form.
Maple Cream, or Maple Butter, is basically spreadable maple syrup. Nothing else is added, (except a touch of butter to prevent the syrup from boiling over in the pan) and it has a creamy almost peanut butter like texture. The flavor is intense maple… sweet, but not cloying. I love maple and this is a revelation for me. I can spread it on scones, biscuits, toast, pancakes. It can be used as an icing for cake. I even spooned it into my coffee.
While this Maple Cream is certainly simple, just one ingredient, one pan, and no special equipment except for a thermometer, it does take some degree of finesse to pull off. It took me a couple of tries to get it right. My first batch turned into maple candy. But it wasn’t my fault, it was my thermometer’s. As it turned out, it was reading about 10 degrees off. When it comes to something as exacting as candy making or, in this case, maple cream making, 10 degrees counts. It’s the difference between a creamy spread and a solid candy. Both delicious, but entirely different animals.
So first off I recommend testing your thermometer. Place it in a pan of boiling water…it should read 212F. If it doesn’t, you need a new thermometer. I ended up using my instant read digital thermometer, which I find easier and more accurate than the clip on variety. The battery eventually wears out, but it’s worth it for dependability.
If you follow this blog you may know that I am an English muffin fanatic, and fyi, Thomas’ has just come out with a seasonal Pumpkin Spice variety…I slathered my Maple Cream on one hot out of the toaster and I’m enjoying it right now.
Ah, Mondays….
I love maple syrup and I love maple as a flavor for all kinds of recipes ~
- Maple Oat Nut Scones
- Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookies
- Maple Frosted Apple Blondies
- Maple Walnut Ice Cream
Maple Cream (or Maple Butter)
Equipment
- a clip on candy thermometer
Ingredients
- 2 cups grade A maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp butter
Instructions
- Put the syrup and the butter in a medium, high sided saucepan. Clip a reliable candy thermometer on the side of the pan, or have a digital thermometer ready.
- Prepare a bowl of ice to cool down the pan later. I just put some ice in my sink with a little water.
- Heat the syrup over medium heat until it reaches 235F. This will take in the range of 10 minutes. Do not stir, just let it boil. Be careful to catch the mixture just as it hits 235F. If you let it heat much higher you will wind up with maple candy.
- When the syrup has reached 235F, take it off the heat and set it in the ice or ice water to cool to about 100F. This doesn't take long, so be alert.
- Once the syrup has cooled, remove the pan from the ice and take a wooden spoon and start stirring.. You don't have to stir furiously, just stir briskly as if you were making cookie batter or something. Just keep steadily stirring the thick syrup and eventually it will start to lighten in color, and then it will magically thicken into a spreadable consistency, like peanut butter. This can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, so don't get discouraged. Switch arms, pass it off to another stirrer, but keep at it. When the mixture has thickened, immediately pour it into a jar.
- Store the maple cream in the refrigerator, it will keep a long time, like maple syrup does.
- Makes 1 cup.
Notes
Nutrition
Thanks for pinning!
Could I can this recipe of Maple Butter?
No, unfortunately this is not appropriate for canning.
Thank you for the recipe. Just made some. I used a hand held electric beater. I stopped as soon as I saw a colour change. Then I used a wooden spoon. It got stiff so I added more liquid maple syrup and it looks just like the maple spread I buy in the grocery store.
I’m excited to have just found this recipe !
I bought a jar of maple cream a few years ago which I loved but it was expensive for my budget. Making it myself will cost me about one third what I paid for that. Thank you !
Okay tried thus back to back twice. first time my thermometer said 235 and cooled it to 100 and stirred fir over 30 with no change. I reheated again , using both thermometers digital and old school candy one, killed my new digital one in process it fried the screen . other one said it was like 255 but im sure wasn’t accurate. So I took off burner and cooled down to 100 and stirred for at this moment 40 + minutes and still going. It has the consistency of honey or sorghum and lightened up some. Looks like caramel almost. Im not sure what wrong and why it wont change over to a cream. Our stove is gas , followed recipe step by step. Any suggestions?
It’s hard to say without being there, this is definitely one of those kitchen projects that is part science experiment. It sounds like it didn’t get quite hot enough to me…
Use a electric mixer, but only for a short time. Once you see the colour change stop and mix with wooden spoon. Store in a container. If it gets stiff, I put what I want to use in the microwave for 10 seconds only then spread it on toast.
I tried this recipe and think I mixed it to long. Everything worked as it should until I got to the end of mixing. I was mixing in a stand mixer and saw the syrup go from a translucent brown to an opaque tan. I think the mistake I made was not taking it out, because a minute or so later I heard the sound of the mixer motor change, and I had maple butter the consistency of play dough. If I reheat this until it liquefies, and then go through the mixing process again, and stop the mixing sooner, will it work?
Jim
That’s the trouble with doing this with an electric mixer, you can’t control the transformation as easily. Not sure if you can remelt it, Jim, I haven’t tried that.
I love maple, will deffinately try this. Is there a reason why you don’t use an electric mixer?
The issue is that you want to be able to control the process, but you could certainly try an electric mixer.
I made maple cream a couple of years ago, and it turned out great. But the recipe I used had quite a bit of butter in it, and I was looking for a recipe with little to no butter.
I liked the look of this recipe. After I heated and then cooled the syrup, as I was pouring it into the bowl of my electric mixer (I couldn’t imagine beating this by hand) it seemed really thick, stiff and gluey, and I thought hmmm, this will never work. But I forged ahead and proceeded to beat the syrup on medium high using my whisk attachment. After five minutes or so I could see the color lightening. And after another ten or so minutes, the mixture became less glossy and more matte. It also stiffened up a bit. So I poured it into my containers. It’s delicious!
A side note, the maple cream I made with this recipe was very smooth, creamy, and not sugary. I had bought a jar of a well known maple cream company last winter, and was disappointed to find that it was quite grainy. So I guess I will be making my own from now on.
Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know about your success Beth, I’ll be making this soon myself, I was just gifted some homemade maple syrup!
OMG We have made this forever. As a little girl my grandparents made maple syrup, candy and spread. They sold maple syrup. I didn’t really understand going to friends house that they didn’t put maple syrup on cereal and things. They also used Ms. Butterworth’s which tastes like Kryo syrup to me. We used maple syrup in place of many items. I loved maple spread on toast but haven’t had it in years. I do remember making it with my mom!
I just need to point out, that if you live at a higher altitude, you need to adjust your end temperature down, as water doesn’t necessarily boil at 212 degrees. The higher you are, the less heat is needed to make water boil, so it might boil at 198 degrees.
At sea level, water boils at 212 °F. With each 500-feet increase in elevation, the boiling point of water is lowered by just under 1 °F. At 7,500 feet, for example, water boils at about 198 °F. Because water boils at a lower temperature at
higher elevations, foods that are prepared by boiling or simmering will cook at a lower temperature, and it will take longer to cook. You also need to adjust the end temperature by the difference between where your water boils and the temperature you are trying to reach. If your water boils at 190, and the recipe says cook until you reach 235, you have just over cooked your product. Instead of 235, you need to drop your final temperature by 23 degrees.
Thanks Nancy!
Could you use this to make a cream filling in a cake? What would you add – heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar or maybe cream cheese?
I’m not sure how well this would blend with other ingredients, Kaylan, because it has such a thick texture. You’d have to experiment.