What Is Maple Syrup?

When you're looking for "syrup" in the grocery store, you probably notice that pure maple syrup stands out from the other options, like Mrs. Butterworth's and Pearl Milling Co. There are plenty of reasons why maple syrup is unlike the rest — its ingredients, how it's made, its distinct taste and flavor nuances, and even its nutritional makeup are unlike the "pancake syrups" that share some shelf space with it. It's also distinguished by its price difference.

Maple syrup is a high-quality product, and you're missing out if you're only drizzling it on top of pancakes and waffles. Read on to learn the basics on maple syrup, including how it's made, what the different grades mean, all the ways you can cook with it, and what you can use as a substitute.

What Is Maple Syrup and How Is It Made?

"Maple syrup is nothing more than [maple tree] sap that's been boiled down to syrup consistency," says Laura Sorkin, co-founder of Runamok Maple.

Maple trees start producing sap, a source of energy, once their environment meets certain conditions: Temperatures must be above freezing during the day, but below freezing at night. When those conditions are met, the sap runs through a tap that's inserted into the tree and into tubing that transports it to a sugar house. There, it's boiled down into syrup. Maple trees are tapped anywhere between January and late winter.

There are three methods for boiling syrup (wood, steam, and oil), and the boiling process can last anywhere from 24 hours to only few hours.

It can take 40 to 50 gallons of maple sap to produce one gallon of syrup. Complete maple syrup is 66 percent sugar, and if you keep boiling maple sap down, you eventually get maple sugar.

In the spring, the taps are pulled, and syrupers (in maple country, syrup is a verb) make the tapping holes in a different place on the tree every year.

Maple Syrup Grades

Maple syrup is divided into grades based on taste and color. There are five different grades of maple syrup: Grade A Golden, Delicate; Grade A, Amber, Rich; Grade A Dark, Robust; Grade A Very Dark, Strong; and processing grade.

• Grade A Golden, Delicate has the lightest amount of maple flavor among maple syrup grades. It may have buttery or vanilla notes and is perceived as sweeter than other grades. This grade of maple syrup pairs best with foods that emphasize its subtle flavor, such as drizzling over crepes or ice cream.
• Grade A Amber, Rich is usually described as the grade with "true maple flavor." It has a stronger maple flavor than Grade A Golden, Delicate, but lacks the caramel notes you'd find in Grade A Dark, Robust. It pairs best with pancakes, waffles, yogurt, and fruit — think of it as your all-around breakfast companion.
• Grade A Dark, Robust has a strong maple flavor in addition to brown sugar and caramel notes, making it great for cooking. It pairs especially well with smoky and spicy flavors.
• Grade A Very Dark, Strong has a strong maple flavor paired with notes of brown sugar, caramel, and molasses, and it's not recommended for general consumption. Instead, use it as an ingredient in places where you need a strong maple flavor, such as barbeque sauce, ice cream, or baked goods.
• Processing Grade is tapped later in the season and is very strongly flavored. It's exclusively available as an ingredient for commercial use in heavily flavored items, such as maple candy or tobacco. "It's not something you'd want to put on your pancakes," Sorkin says.

However, a maple syrup's grade isn't the only indicator of how it may taste. Maple syrup is similar to wine and has flavor nuances depending on factors such as when the syrup was tapped and how much rain a sugarbush received in a particular year.

"The flavor profile changes throughout the season. I would say most commonly you're going to get flavors of caramel, bourbon, vanilla, sometimes on the lighter side you get a little bit of apple and honey in there — and buttery," Sorkin says. "There are days when it tastes like you put a pat of butter in there. Honestly, the trees just do what they wanna do and they're gonna produce the kind of sap that they feel like."

Ways to Use Maple Syrup

There are far more uses for maple syrup than simply drizzling it on top of your breakfast. Its applications abound in both sweet and savory dishes.

You can stir it into baked goods, ice cream, and other desserts. Maple syrup can also make roasted vegetables sing — spread a little over a halved butternut squash just before roasting — act as a base for a sauce or condiment, and make an excellent marinade for meats.

Sorkin adds that maple syrup can also be used as an everyday sweetener — in Vermont, for example, people add maple syrup to their tea and coffee. Maple syrup is more nutritious than sugar and contains higher amounts of nutrients including zinc, magnesium, calcium, riboflavin, and manganese, and is lower on the glycemic index.

Maple Syrup Substitutes

Need a substitute for maple syrup in a pinch? Try one of these:

• Honey will make the best maple syrup substitute in terms of texture or flavor, and it works well both as a topping and as an ingredient. You can substitute honey for maple syrup in a 1:1 ratio.
• Molasses is the best substitute for when you want to evoke maple syrup's rich, dark color. It also boasts the same sweet flavor and caramel notes.

You can also make your own substitute for maple syrup with the recipe below:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp maple extract

Bring the water, white sugar, and brown sugar to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir in the maple extract; simmer 3 minutes longer.

Get the Recipe: Homemade Maple Syrup

Related:

• Does Maple Syrup Go Bad? Here's What You Need to Do to Keep It Fresh
• 18 Maple Desserts to Sweeten Your Day
• Why Are Honey Bottles Shaped Like Bears?