If you’re looking to spice up your home cooking, it’s time to rediscover a humble ingredient that’s long been a kitchen powerhouse: Maple from Canada. Maple is a pantry staple, and we all love it as a classic addition to a gorgeous brunch spread. But it isn’t just delicious with breakfast — its unique flavour and exciting range of textures shine just as brightly in every other meal of the day.
Whether you’re cooking to impress at a dinner party, or just looking to get creative and have more fun in the kitchen, don’t miss out on the culinary versatility of Maple from Canada.
Maple syrup
Pure, 100 per cent maple syrup comes in four main varieties, each with their own distinct flavour profiles that can complement your favourite recipes in surprising ways.
Golden maple syrup, with its more delicate taste, is just as wonderful on Greek yogurt and ice cream as it is with a shellfish or poultry dinner. Amber has a richer taste, making it ideal as a natural sweetener in vinaigrettes, or as a fine accent in gourmet dishes. Dark maple syrup’s robust taste makes it a perfect addition in barbecue sauce, red meat glazes or the batter of your next batch of cookies. Lastly, very dark maple syrup amplifies rich ganaches and roast glazes with a strong, deep taste that will wow guests.
Maple butter
Despite its name, maple butter contains no actual butter or dairy — it’s just pure maple sap. It flies a bit under-the-radar as an ingredient, but you shouldn’t miss out on the big flavour boost you’ll get by including it in your cooking. Maple butter blends beautifully into sauces, it’s a delectable dessert garnish, and it even makes a lovely aromatic contribution to pesto.
Maple taffy
Made from boiling maple syrup to a concentrate, maple taffy is well known as a sugar-shack treat. In the kitchen, add taffy to Italian meringue and praline, or add a hint to boost the flavour of savoury dishes like red meat and poultry stuffings.
Maple sugar
Maple sugar is an excellent natural alternative to other sweetening agents. It’s a chef’s best friend in the kitchen. We love to use it as a dry rub on meat and fish, in tasty overnight marinades or as a way to reduce the bitterness of veggies like rapini, artichokes or endives.
Maple from Canada is good in just about anything — from appetizers and lunches, to mains and desserts. It’s guaranteed to elevate your go-to recipes. Get excited to discover a host of new flavour combinations and textures with Maple from Canada.
To start cooking incredible meals with Maple from Canada, head to maplefromcanada.ca
Maple-glazed octopus
Serves 4
Preparation time 30 minutes
Cooking time 1 hour
Ingredients
For the octopus
4 nice octopus tentacles
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 stalk celery
½ Tbsp coarse salt
1 tsp crushed pepper or pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
⅓ cup maple syrup (preferably golden syrup for its delicate flavour)
¼ cup sherry vinegar
2 cups orange juice
1 lime, cut in half
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, finely minced
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
½ bunch tarragon
1 sprig rosemary
For the summertime garnish
1 large head of lettuce
4 radishes, thinly sliced
1 carrot, grated
1 apple, julienned
Your choice of raw veggies
For the vinaigrette
1 Tbsp mustard (your choice)
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil
½ Tbsp maple syrup (preferably golden syrup for its delicate flavour)
Salt and ground pepper
Method
For the octopus:
Blanche the octopus tentacles in a pot of water with the onion, celery, salt, pepper and bay leaf.
Start with cold water, bring to a simmer and cook 45 minutes. Turn off the heat under the pot, cover and let the octopus finish cooking for 15 minutes. Drain and set in the fridge to cool for 2 hours.
To make a gastrique, put the maple syrup and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Deglaze with orange juice and add the lime, ginger, garlic, tarragon and rosemary.
Add the octopus tentacles and reduce the sauce to a syrupy consistency so that it glazes your octopus well.
For the summertime garnish
Make a nice green salad with the radishes, grated carrots, julienned apple, fruits and raw veggies (to your taste).
For the vinaigrette
In a bowl, and using a small whisk, make a mustard vinaigrette by combining the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, and the salt and pepper.
Pan-fried quail in maple syrup and cider vinegar
Serves 4
Preparation time 25 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
Ingredients
4 quail, deboned
Salt and pepper
3 Tbsp canola oil
2 French shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup cider vinegar
½ cup maple syrup (preferably amber syrup for its rich flavour)
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 pinch dried hot pepper
½ lemon, juice and zest
Method
Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F).
Season quails well with salt and pepper. Heat oil over medium-high in an ovenproof skillet. Sear quail on the flesh side for 2–3 minutes, and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium and sauté shallot and garlic for 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the cider vinegar, then the maple syrup. Add the mustard, thyme, rosemary and hot pepper, and cook for 1 minute.
Return quail to the pan. Add the lemon zest and juice. Place in oven for 15 minutes, basting quail 2 or 3 times during roasting.
Maple marjolaine cake
Serves 12
Preparation time 1 hour
Cooking time 50 minutes
Ingredients
For the cake
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp fine salt
1 cup salted butter, softened
5 egg yolks
2 cups maple sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla essence
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 cup sparkling water
½ cup maple syrup (preferably amber syrup for its rich flavour)
For the buttercream
1½ cup maple syrup (preferably dark syrup for its robust flavour)
5 egg whites
1 cup salted butter, cubed and softened
Method
For the cake
Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).
Butter two 20-centimetre regular or hinged pans, and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Reserve.
In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, egg yolks, maple sugar and vanilla essence at medium-high speed for about 4 minutes or until it’s creamy and smooth. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix the almond milk and sparkling water. At low speed, add the dry ingredients and egg mixture, alternating between them.
Spread the dough into the pans, and bake for 50 minutes in the centre of the oven or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a rack. Take the cakes out of the pans and brush them with maple syrup. Set aside.
For the buttercream
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the maple syrup to a boil, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 115 C (240 F). (If not using a thermometer, boil the syrup until large pale bubbles appear. Reduce heat to medium and allow to boil without stirring until small dark bubbles form.)
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff. Pour in the hot maple syrup in a thin stream, continuing to beat rapidly until it’s completely cooled, about 15 minutes. Add the butter, 1 or 2 cubes at a time, and beat to obtain a very smooth buttercream.
To assemble
Place one cake on a stand and apply a layer of buttercream. Put the other cake on top and repeat with the cream. Garnish as desired.
Note: To achieve the spectacular effect seen in the photo, make two portions of the cake recipe and one of the butter cream. When ready to assemble, put the first cake on the stand and apply the cream. Repeat with successive layers of cake and cream. Spread the remaining cream on and around the whole cake. Use a spatula to shape the contours, leaving spaces in the cream on the sides so the layers can be seen.
