My Sugar Shack supper club recipes: pea soup, maple syrup vinaigrette, pouding chômeur, Nanaimo bars, maple taffy on snow

After a lengthy -50°C winter, come February and March, families leave town to visit their local maple farmer and taste the new season maple syrup. Farmers are ‘sugaring off’ their syrup, slowly reducing the watery maple sap over a wood fire to a shimmering mahogany nectar.

Wooden shacks next to the vats frequently boast long checkered-cloth covered refectory tables, adorned with jugs of that years’ vintage of maple syrup – to be tipped liberally and frankly rather oddly into dishes such as pea soup or on fried potatoes.  The farmer’s wife will cook a generous spread of traditional Canadian winter food, not fine cuisine by any means, but hearty and comforting. I tried to recreate this meal. 

Garden pea soup recipe

Maple syrup salad dressing

Pouding chômeur

Serves 6

The name of this dessert means pudding for a man on the dole, derived from the fact that the ingredients were cheap. (Previously, maple syrup was a fraction of the price of cane sugar in Canada.)

It’s very easy to make, a little like a sticky toffee pudding. Perfect for chilly nights.

Ingredients:

For the sauce:
350ml maple syrup
150ml double cream
60g butter
2tsp cider vinegar
Pinch of salt

For the pudding:
100g brown sugar
100g butter, salted
1 large egg
1tsp vanilla paste
200g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt

To serve:
300ml whipped double cream
4tbsp maple syrup

Method:

Make the sauce by putting all the ingredients into a medium saucepan and bringing to the boil, then removing it from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
For the pudding, beat the sugar and butter together until fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla until combined.
Gradually add the flour, baking powder and salt, stirring until well mixed.
Pour half the sauce into a baking dish (approximately 22cm square) then spread the pudding mixture on top. Add the rest of the sauce.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden.
Serve with double cream mixed with maple syrup.

Nanaimo bars recipe

Bottom Layer:
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
50g white or golden caster sugar
2tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1tsp vanilla paste
250g Digestive Biscuits, roughly chopped
50g pecans, coarsely chopped

Middle Layer:
75g salted butter mixed with 3tbsp maple syrup, room temperature (or Maple Moose butter)
3tbsp single cream or full fat milk
2tbsp custard powder
1/2tsp vanilla paste
250g icing sugar, white or golden

Top Layer:
150g dark chocolate
1tbsp salted butter
30g pecans, chopped, for topping
Optional: 50g white chocolate to drizzle

Method:

Butter or spray a 20 x 20cm (8 x 8 inches) square tin or a brownie tin.
Bottom Layer: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and cocoa powder and then gradually whisk in the beaten egg. Return the saucepan to low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (1 – 2 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, digestives and chopped nuts. Press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Put in the fridge to firm up.
Middle Layer: Beat the butter until fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until the mixture is smooth. Spread the filling over the bottom layer and put in the fridge for half an hour.
Top Layer: Chop up the chocolate and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir then if still not sufficiently melted, microwave for another 30 seconds. Add the butter and stir. (Or you can use the bain marie method, of a bowl over a pan of hot water). Pour the melted chocolate evenly over the nanaimo bars, spreading with a rubber spatula into the corners, smoothing the top. Scatter the pecans on top. Put it in the fridge to set.

Maple taffy on snow recipe

Readers may remember the story from Little House on the Prairie where they make maple taffy on snow. This is a traditional finale to each sugar shack meal, a spring treat enjoyed just as much by adults as by children. 

Ingredients:
Maple syrup
Clean Snow
Flat lollypop sticks
Shallow baking tin or container
Digital thermometer
Jug

Boil maple syrup to 115ºC or 235ºF. It’s best to use a digital or sugar thermometer.
Pack clean snow into a shallow container so that it is compacted and flat on top.
With a jug, drip the maple syrup onto the snow in thick strips (an inch or 2-3cm wide and 6 inches/ 12cm long). 

Using a flat lollipop stick, press it down into the liquid maple syrup until it starts to stick, then slowly roll up into a popsicle. Hold the stick sideways as you are eating it, otherwise it’ll drip down into your sleeves.