I love maple syrup. Yes, I love it drizzled over pancakes and waffles—but I also love baking breads, muffins and cakes with it and glazing carrots, squash and ham with it. This time of year, when baking and roasting take over the kitchen, maple seems to be a natural for me. And, I do mean natural, for I am talking about the real deal—not the pseudo syrup.
In the post on maple syrup for The Kansas City Star’s Chow Town blog, I mentioned that since I was born and bred in the Midwest, maple syrup meant regular old pancake syrup. That is all we knew here. How about you?
What a memorable trip when my family and I drove through Vermont. Yes, I knew about real maple syrup, but it was there that I talked to maple farmers and learned about their passion. I now enjoy the different grades and am now passionate about the flavor of the real syrup. What a sweet trip—and what a great family memory.
On that Chow Town post you can learn more about the grades of maple syrup—but for now, let’s just get to the recipes. One is for a buttery coffee cake that features maple syrup and a crunchy streusel and the other, for maple glazed squash and carrots. Enjoy the sweet life!
Maple Streusel Coffee Cake Loaf
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
Streusel:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, then grease and flour pan.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in maple syrup. Beat in eggs, one at time. Beat in vanilla.
Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream, making 3 additions of flour and 2 of sour cream.
For streusel, in a small bowl, stir together flour, syrup, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter. Stir in walnuts.
Spoon half of prepared batter into pan. Spoon half of streusel over batter. Top with remaining batter and remaining streusel. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Loosely cover the top of the loaf with aluminum foil during the last 30 minutes of baking if it starts to overbrown. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
Maple Glazed Butternut Squash
1 large butternut squash
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Cut the bulbous end off the squash and reserve for other uses. Peel the neck of the squash. Cut into crosswise slices about 3/4-inch thick. Arrange slices in a single layer on the baking sheet. Brush generously on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake 15 minutes or until just tender.
Mix together remaining ingredients. Brush generously over the squash. Bake 5 minutes or until edges just begin to brown and squash is tender. If desired, drizzle with remaining maple sauce before serving.
Makes 4 servings
Carrots: Cut 6 to 8 carrots in half crosswise. Slice thicker end of carrots in half lengthwise to make 3, equal-sized pieces from each carrot. Proceed as recipe directs, baking 13 to 15 minutes, then brushing with glaze and baking 3 to 5 minutes.
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