Crêpes and Pure Maple Syrup

It is now maple sugaring season in New England and I am remembering my favorite

hobby in highschool and college: making pure maple syrup. I had a small

sugarshack in my backyard where I would produce my own syrup from the sap of

maple trees in my neighborhood.

Very often as a kid, growing up in a French-Canandian family, breakfast would

consist of crêpes with maple syrup. It was always pure maple syrup made at a

local sugarhouse, or even syrup made in my backyard. Here I am presenting a simple

recipe for crêpes French-Canadian style. Although Mom always made them with butter,

I am told the traditional way is to fry them in vegetable shortening. Using shortening

helps to make the edges crispier! I fried up a few pieces of hickory-smoked

bacon to serve along with the crêpes, when I made this meal.

Backyard Sugaring:

Pictured is a photograph of the sugarshack in my backyard when I was a kid. Forty gallons of sap is

boiled to produce one gallon of maple syrup. You can see lots of steam as the sap is being boiled in

an evaporator.

Hot, boiling syrup in the evaporator ready to be "drawn-off". When the syrup is at the correct

sweetness, it begins to make lots of bubbles and is ready to be removed from the metal pans,

filtered and bottled.

Hot syrup being drawn off from the evaporator finishing pan. Many hours of boiling are needed

to make maple syrup. The sap looks like water when it comes out of the tree, but after being

boiled down, it becomes this distinct amber color.

Recipe for crêpes:

2 cups whole milk

2 eggs

1 cup flour

vegetable shortening (Crisco)

pure maple syrup

Put the milk, eggs, and flour in a blender and blend until smooth.

Heat a non-stick frying pan and melt a tsp. of shortening.

Pour the batter in the pan and tilt the pan to coat the bottom.

Do not put too much batter, crêpes should be very thin!!

After the edges are brown and crispy, flip with a spatula.

Let the other side fry for a minute or two.

Remove from the pan and roll up the crêpe.

Continue making more crêpes with the rest of the batter.

Serve with pure maple syrup on top.

Variation: A little vanilla extract can be added for flavor and the

crêpes can be served with fruit, whipped cream, brown sugar, or

other fillings. I like to make them plain so as to enjoy the flavor of

the pure maple syrup!!

#crêpes #maplesyrup #frenchcanadian