March and April are the yummiest of maple syrup months in Muskoka. There are more than 30 producers situated within Cottage Country—from mom+pop farms and shops to huge makers that ship their liquid gold worldwide—all hard at work in springtime. And while many local sugarbushes may be closed to visitors during this pandemic, it’s still business as usual in the forest. Almost nothing stops a maple tree’s sap from running, not even Covid. Muskoka’s maple syrup yield in 2021 is expected to be a good one.

There are many reasons why maple syrup is so yummy.

*Sweetness. *Richness. *Naturalness. *Friendliness to the environment.

Without much thought, most of us snap a bottle off the grocery store shelf when we’re thinking Sunday brunch with pancakes. But true connoisseurs know that not all maple syrups are made equal. Like wine, there’s a hierarchy. It pays to pay attention.

Colour

First, there’s colour. In fact, there are four colours: Light, Medium, Dark & Very Dark. Each has a taste and a use. Here’s the breakdown:

Light: Pale golden brown syrup is treasured for its delicate flavour. Think: Topping for pancakes, yogurt or ice cream.

Medium: Slightly darker in colour, this rich, sticky liquid is still fabulous for pancakes and ice cream. In fact, some people prefer it. But its sweetness and richness in flavour are also ideal enhancers for side dishes and desserts, including smoothies and salad dressings.

Dark: Chock full of fragrant maple flavour, dark syrups are magical in cooking. Recipes best suited include stews, chilis, and baked treats such as pies and muffins.

Very Dark: Robust flavours make these syrups the line-backers of cooking. They anchor any maple-rich recipe, including glazes and sauces.

Ingredients

And then there are the ingredients. Scratch that… the ingredient. There’s only one ingredient in 100% Canadian maple syrup. Can you guess what that is? Answer: Maple sap, pure and simple. The product is truly organic. It takes 40 litres of sap to produce just one litre of maple syrup. Maybe that’s why they call it liquid gold. Getting it from the tree to our tummies is a major endeavour.

Yet, while there’s only one ingredient, there are many nutrients in maple syrup. According to maplefromcanada.ca: “One 60 ml (1/4 cup) serving of Maple Syrup contains 72% of the daily nutritional requirement of manganese, 27% of riboflavin, 17% of copper, and 6% of calcium.”

Uses

There are at least 101 uses for maple syrup. They range widely and it’d be a lot of work to list each one of them. But here are a few, including some that might surprise you:

Maple Sugar: Granulated sugar sometimes moulded into the shape of a maple leaf and eaten as candy. Some people swear by it as a sweetener for tea or coffee.

Maple Taffy: Boil it up and pour it in a line on clean snow, then quickly roll up with a popsicle stick. Sugar shacks are specialists at passing these lollies out to kids at Spring Break. Seriously, there’s nothing better.

Maple Butter: There’s actually no butter in maple butter. It’s really just a different form of maple syrup. Cooked in a certain way to make it thick and creamy—ideal as a toast topper.

Maple Wine: Yep, they make wine out of pretty much anything these days, including maple syrup. Érablière du Cap’s L’Avrillon is one of them.

Maple Beer: And where there’s a wine there’s a beer. Coming quickly to mind: Sawdust City’s Maple Butter Tart Ale and the Spring Maple Belgian Blonde by Lake of Bays Brewery.

Happiness

To sum it all up, we turn back to maplefromcanada.ca to remind us why March and April are the yummiest of maple syrup months in Muskoka: because it makes us happy: “Family outings to the sugar shack, that first maple taffy on the snow, Mom’s maple syrup pie, the comfort of maple butter on toast on a winter morning… Happiness is Maple!”