Maple Cream Recipes

Steps:

• Place the bowl of a stand mixer (or any large heatproof bowl, if using a handheld mixer) in an ice-water bath. Combine maple syrup, oil, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, undisturbed, over medium-high heat. Continue boiling, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 235 degrees (soft-ball stage), 6 to 8 minutes.
• Immediately transfer syrup to bowl in ice-water bath and let stand, undisturbed, until it has cooled to 100 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes. Attach bowl to stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-low speed until mixture becomes thick, creamy, and the color of peanut butter. (This can take anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes, so set a timer and check on it periodically if using a stand mixer.) Transfer cream to a jar with a tight-fitting lid and store in refrigerator or a cool, dark place up to 1 year.

Steps:

• Prepare the pastry in a food processor, combine the walnuts and sugar and pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add the flour and salt and pulse to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is the texture of coarse meal with pea size pieces. Add 2 tablespoons of ice water and pulse until the dough is evenly moistened. The dough should hold together when squeezed, but not be too wet. Add up to 2 more tablespoons of ice water, if necessary. Tip out the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and using the plastic to gather the dough together, form it into a disk. Chill for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. (Alternatively, you can freeze the dough for up to 1 week).
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 12-inch-diameter round (about 1/8 inch thick). Transfer the dough to a 9-inch standard pie plate. Trim the excess dough and fold it to make a decorative edge. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 15 minutes. Line the frozen shell with parchment paper or foil and fill with pie weights. Bake the crust until the edges are lightly golden and the crust beneath the parchment is dry, about 25 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and continue to bake the crust until it is golden brown about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Set a fine mesh sieve next to the crust for later.
• Prepare the filling: In a small saucepan, bring the maple syrup to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Continue to cook the syrup until it has reduced by about half, about 12 minutes. (You can occasionally pour the syrup into a glass measuring cup to check the volume.) In a medium saucepan (away from the stovetop), whisk the egg yolks with the cornstarch until smooth. In a slow stream, while whisking, add the milk and cream. Add the salt, butter, and reduced maple syrup. Don't worry if the syrup seizes. It will smooth out in the next step when you heat the custard. Cook the milk mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it has thickened and come to a low boil, about 7 minutes. Cook the custard for 1 minute more and then pour it through the sieve into the cooled crust and spread it out evenly.
• Press a piece of waxed paper directly onto the surface of the custard and transfer the pie to the fridge. Chill the pie for at least 4 hours or up to overnight. To serve, top the pie with whipped cream.

Steps:

• For the crust: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. While continuing to pulse, slowly add the water and lemon juice until the dough just comes together. Squeeze a small amount of dough between your thumb and index finger to make sure it holds its shape. If it doesn't, add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time while still pulsing, but make sure that the dough doesn't form into a wet ball.
• Remove the dough from the food processor. Divide the dough in half, press each half into a disk, and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes. (You will only use 1 disk of dough for this recipe; the other disk of dough will keep for up to 1 month, wrapped well, in the freezer.)
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll 1 dough disk out to a 12-inch round. Line a 9-inch pie pan with the dough. Crimp the edges and dock the bottom of the dough with a fork. Freeze the dough in the pan for 20 minutes.
• Line the dough-lined pan with parchment paper and fill to the rim with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment. Continue baking until the crust is baked through, 15 to 20 more minutes. Let cool completely.
• For the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the egg yolks, maple syrup, cornstarch, and salt, whisking until smooth and pale.
• In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the cream, milk, and vanilla and bring to a simmer. With the mixer running on medium speed, slowly and carefully pour the hot milk mixture into the mixer and whisk until combined.
• Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and whisk constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens to the consistency of mayonnaise. Remove the pastry cream from the heat and add the butter, whisking until incorporated. Pour the pastry cream directly into the cooled prepared crust. Cover the tart with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.
• To finish: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the heavy cream, mascarpone, and maple syrup to stiff peaks. Using a small offset spatula, spread the topping across the surface of the pie.
• Garnish each slice with a Maple Cookie, if you like.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, maple syrup, and 1/2 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and salt until fully combined. Add the flour mixture all at once to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Press the dough into a disk and wrap it up. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• On a floured work surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick. Using a maple leaf cookie cutter, stamp out cookies and place 1/2 inch apart on the prepared pans. Press together and re-roll the scraps 1 time. Sprinkle the cookies with a light, even layer of the remaining 1/4 cup sugar.
• Bake until the edges of the cookies are golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°. Line a 9-in. pie plate with pastry; trim to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate. Flute edges. Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack., For filling, combine cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan. Stir in 1/2 cup milk until smooth. Gradually stir in remaining milk and 3/4 cup maple syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Stir in a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in butter. Cool to room temperature without stirring., In a chilled small bowl, beat cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold 1 cup cream into cooled filling; spoon into crust. Fold remaining syrup into remaining cream; frost top of pie. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with toasted almonds. Refrigerate leftovers.

Steps:

• Lightly oil a 9- by 9-inch square pan, or a baking sheet.
• In a small heavy-duty saucepan (about 2 quarts) mix together the maple syrup, sugar, cream, and corn syrup.
• Fit a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and heat until the temperature reaches 236 degrees, tilting the pan to submerge the bulb, if necessary, to gauge the correct temperature.
• Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the mixture into the metal bowl of a standing electric mixer.
• Submerge the thermometer in the candy mixture until it has cooled to 110 degrees, which will take a while.
• (tip: you can put the bottom of the bowl in ice water to speed up the process; but don’t stir the mixture to cool it down).
• When the temperature is 110 degrees, add the vanilla and beat the mixture until it just begins to thicken and loose its gloss.
• Overmixing will make it grainy, so keep an eye on it.
• Stir in the nuts and spread the mixture into the square pan or onto the baking sheet, forming it into a 9-inch square with your (clean) hands.
• Allow to cool completely, then remove from the pan and cut into squares.
• To remove it from a square pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen it, then cut it in half.
• Use a metal spatula to pry the candy loose a bit (it will be flexible).
• Invert the pan a shake it to coax the maple cream candy out.

Steps:

• Mix and let stand for 1 hour to meld flavors.