Maple Syrup and Birthday Cupcakes
This past weekend a good friend from high school was visiting Boston. K had a conference here last week and stayed to hang out this weekend. On top of hanging out with friends, Butler made it to the Final Four! K went to Butler and is the president of his local alumni club!
On Saturday we decided to partake in some local fun by heading up to New Hampshire to go to a maple house where they boil maple syrup. We had beautiful weather on Saturday. It was a bit chilly but sunny and not a cloud in the sky. After arriving at the Grant Family Maple House, we had some food and got in line to learn all about how maple syrup is made.
What we learned is that the sap from the trees has about 2-3% sugar in it straight from the tree. At that percentage, it would take 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup!! So they first condense the sap until it reaches about 8% sugar. The sap is then boiled to evaporate off the water.
Once the temperature reads 7 degrees above the boiling point of water, you have syrup! The guy in the maple house even explained how they use a baraometer on the wall to get the barometric pressure so they know the exact boiling temperature of water for that given day. It was all very scientific and extremely interesting.
The small bottles of maple syrup were a sample from each batch they had made at the maple house this season. The guy explained that as the season goes on, the syrup tends to get darker due to the change in the amount of sugar in the sap.
Of course, we had to get some maple products while we were there. Obviously, maple syrup. We also got some maple candies, some maple sugar, and some maple pepper. Can’t wait to find creative ways to use the sugar and pepper. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know!
Also, since K’s birthday was last week, I made him some cupcakes to celebrate. I went with my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. I love that you can whip these up by dirtying only one bowl and using a whisk! I dipped them in some ganache and topped with festive sprinkles. Aren’t they pretty?
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
What a gorgeous chocolate!! I adore deep chocolate ice creams.
beantownbaker — May 31st, 2013 @ 10:07 am
You would definitely love this then. It’s so rich and chocolatey!
I just got an ice cream maker and cannot wait to start trying it out… this looks a bit above my skill level, but a good thing to work towards!
beantownbaker — May 31st, 2013 @ 10:08 am
I completely understand wanting to start out with an easier recipe. Sorbets are really easy. No cooking necessary for most sorbet recipes. But def keep this one in the back of your mind for when you feel more confident!
I made this dark chocolate ice cream last year, and it is definitely the best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever had. The 5-day wait time is pure torture, but it’s completely worth it. So glad you enjoyed this as much as I did!
beantownbaker — May 31st, 2013 @ 10:07 am
I agree, it was complete torture, especially after taking a taste after it had processed in the machine…
A rich, deep chocolate ice cream is worth the wait! It’s so hard to find a recipe for the decadent chocolate ice I desire, this recipe has moved to the top of my to-do list!
You can tell just by looking at this how rich and awesome it is!!
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:52 am
It’s seriously difficult to scoop it’s so thick!
wowza, this certainly tell how rich and decadent it is!! i’m appreciating more and more those things that I only need a spoonful of to satisfy 😉
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:53 am
This is definitely one of those things. I love chocolate but could only handle one small scoop at a time.
Who isn’t a fan of chocolate?! This looks amazing 🙂
I would love to try this recipe. I am wondering why you used coconut milk, and I’m assuming full fat coconut milk?
beantownbaker — June 16th, 2013 @ 7:47 pm
i use coconut milk because I’m lactose intolerant so I can’t use cow’s milk or heavy cream. If you want to use those dairy products, follow the instructions in the original recipe. And yes, I use full fat coconut milk.