Instructions: Well I dont know how other people make it, but this is how my family always made in Pennsylvania when we were sugaring off. Maple sugar candy is one of the easiest candies to make. There are, however, two kinds: the taffy like stuff and the cakelike stuff. Ill include both recipes. The key to both is to use real maple syrup, none of this imitation "maple-flavored"

stuff (although B-grade maple syrup will do fine).

1. Prepare your molds by greasing them lightly. Or you can use a single large pan and break the candy into conveniently sized pieces once it cools.

2. Heat the maple syrup to the hard crack stage. This is around 300 F. Precision is not really necessary here, though. What you want to do is get it to hard crack and then hold it there until it just starts to crystallize.

3. At this point, you have to be very fast and somewhat reckless: pour the crystallizing syrup into the molds as fast as possible. If your timing is right, it will form smooth-grained cakes of maple sugar. Word to the Wise: If you catch the syrup too late, the candy will be coarse-grained, but it will still taste wonderful. If you get it too early, it will set up like a hard candy: clear and brittle. Again, very tasty. My suggestion is that you try making this with small amounts of syrup until you have a feel for when to pour.

/CANDY

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