Maple Weekend celebrates New York's status among world producers

Maple Weekend celebrates
New York's status among world producers

New York State is the fourth largest producer of maple syrup in the world and the individual producers are celebrating that fact at this year's Maple Weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday, March 19-20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, about 85 of the finest maple producers throughout New York state open their sugarhouses to demonstrate the making of maple products "from the tree to the table."

Maple Weekend is a free, family-oriented event which gives you a chance to see how New York maple producers make some of the world's finest syrup and related products. For a list of participating maple producers and maps to their sugarhouses go online at www.mapleweekend.com.

On Maple Weekend, visitors can see all aspects of maple making, from the tapping of the trees to get the sap, to the boiling of the sap into syrup. Some producers will also demonstrate the making of maple syrup into other products including maple cream, maple cotton candy and maple sugar. Most sugarhouses will allow people to sample the products.

Techniques of maple production vary from producer to producer. Some are state-of-the-art and some use traditional methods, so everyone is encouraged to visit several of the participating farms. In addition, many of the producers will have a variety of additional activities including horse and wagon rides, snowshoeing, guided walks in the woods and kids' corners.

New York State maple syrup has established its reputation as some of the highest quality in the world. New York Maple producers continually strive to do a better job of telling people about it and that is what Maple Weekend is all about.

According to the New York State Agriculture Statistics Service, New York is the fourth largest maple syrup producer in the world (behind Canada, Vermont and Maine). Last year, the estimated 1,525 maple producers across New York made 255,000 gallons of syrup in accounting for approximately 17 percent of the maple syrup made in the United States. Each of the estimated 1.35 million taps in the state produced an average of 0.19 gallons of syrup.

Maple Expresso Cake
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups white or wheat flour
1/4 cup finely ground coffee
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
6 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk or yogurt

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 cup Bundt pan or large spring pan.
In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients.
In a large bowl mix sugar, syrup and butter until light and fluffy. Add sour cream, eggs, vanilla and milk until well blended.
Beat in on low speed the dry ingredients.
Bake for 1 hour.

Maple Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup maple syrup
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup white and/or wheat flour
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts (optional).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease cookie sheets.
Cream butter and maple syrup, then beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Drop in teaspoonfuls on the cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Maple Walnut Sweet Rolls
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. dry yeast

Put ingredients in your bread machine on the "dough" cycle: Remove dough from bread machine - pat out into a rectangle.

Brush dough with 2 tbsp. melted butter or margarine.
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup pure granulated maple sugar and then sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
Roll dough jelly roll-style and cut into 1 1/2" wide pieces and place on side in greased pan.
Cover and let rise for about 40 minutes. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes.
When rolls come out of oven, spread Pure Maple Cream on top for frosting.

Maple Cheesecake
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. whipped topping
1/2 cup granulated maple sugar
1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust

Mix all ingredients together and pour into pie crust.
Chill overnight.
Sprinkle top with granulated maple sugar before serving.

Orleans County

Flyway Farm, 10888 West Shelby Road, Medina (phone 585-798-0751) (e-mail: flywayfarm@juno.com) Terry and Pat Laubisch's Flyway Farm is in a park-like setting dotted with trees three feet in diameter. Each one is tapped and visitors can watch and taste the slow drip of sap as it drains from those trees into buckets. The farm is located next to the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge, so visitors can marvel at the nesting bald eagles and Canadian geese flying overhead. Flyway Farms will have Alpaca Llamas on display.
Maple Grove Farm of Clarendon, 4394 South Holley Road, Holley (phone 585-638-6245) (e-mail: dday5@rochester.rr.com) Visit our sugarhouse on our fifth generation family farm, where we make maple syrup and celebrate the "sweet magic of mother nature." We'll have maple tasting, demonstrations and tours that are fun and educational for kids of all ages.